My Second Chance: Gift From Fate
by Futago no Akuma Shimai
Summary: Life has never been kind to Dorian,so when Fate decides to give her and her brother a second chance,she won't give up until she accomplishes her dream..she will be reunited w/ Dylan even if it kills her trying to get to OP to open the portal,besides her new family has the same goal..they'll just go together."Kami, no Fate!How could you do this to me!Why are all men idiots!" D
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter One: _Prolog/Alone_

The smell penetrating in the air was putrid and suffocating. There was a small breeze making its way through the room, but it didn't help alleviate the smothering feeling of the humid air that hung inside the apartment.

The one-bedroom apartment, if it really deserved to even be called that, was small and dark. Almost all of the furniture had been overturned or broken; there was glass strewn everywhere, making the ground glint ominously. Old shattered plates and cups could be seen all throughout the room, remaining still from where they had originally been thrown in a fit of rage. The little doors of the cupboards in the kitchenette were either hanging on the last of their hinges or missing completely; the small faucet was rusted over and left running, letting out small drops of water. There was a giant crack in the center of the small round table, where it had caved in a week previously when a couple of the more rowdy men got into an argument over a game of poker and accidentally split it. Cards and game chips met in the center of the "cave in", and the four chairs that had originally gone with the table were thrown in different directions. Empty beer bottles of different kinds covered the dirty tar-colored floor; stains of beer, human excrement, and blood trailed all over the floor.

There was one lone, barred window on the right side of the apartment that had been hastily boarded up; aside from the small gap in its left hand corner, where the breeze had been coming from, it provided the natural daylight to seep in the shadows roamed the room. There was an old, beaten up, metal-framed bed directly underneath it; the sunlight made its metallic frame glint in a dark fashion as the sun rose in the sky. There were cuffs at the four corners of the bed chained to the small figure in the center of the hay–filled mattress.

The person lay painfully still over blood soaked sheets; the skin of his small wrists and ankles were torn and raw from the cuffs chaining him to the bed. His torn and baggy shirt was the only article of clothing shielding his body from the world. You could see the outline of each his ribs and the dip of his belly where his ribcage ended through the old shirts' thin fabric. Horrific-looking scars littered his skin; jagged lines covered his arms and the inside of his thighs where someone had carved the word _"slut"_ during the first month of his stay. Infected sores and cuts on his body where being attacked by flies and mosquitoes. One of his legs was bent at a strange angle; the bone at his knee had been shattered and the snapped bone was sticking out of his flesh.

Old blood that had pooled down under his leg had dried out and was starting to look like a dark reddish brown stain on the sheets, just like the rest of all of the dried out blood surrounding his body. His left arm was slightly resting over his heart while the other one lay still above his head. Long, dark, black-looking hair was matted to his forehead and framed his face like a curtain; his chapped and flayed lips were slightly opened, an old trail of blood ran from the left corner of his mouth down to the mattress. His once-beautiful face was littered in bruises and was facing the almost identical looking bed opposite of his own; unseeing, glassy green-brown eyes "stared" at the other person lying on the bed.

Despite his ghastly appearance, his expression was (while a bit worried and pain-filled was overall) peaceful; he suffered no longer in his eternal "sleep". His once agonizing and pain-filled breaths had stopped three hours previously as he tearfully told his sobbing twin that it hurt too much to keep going; he had lost too much blood…. As his last raspy breath rattled out of his abused body, the last words he had heard were the soft-spoken and sorrow-filled testament of his dear twin's love for him. He died peacefully gazing at the only human being that had ever truly understood and loved him; he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Dry sobs racked the body of the girl lying on the mattress as she stared into the soulless eyes of her brother. A year—they had been tortured for more than a year; the only reason they had made it this far was their constant presence and company, but now she was alone and she knew. She knew she wasn't going to make it for much longer either; she couldn't live without Dylan, and who knew when her captors would be back? They had been missing for a week. She allowed herself to briefly think that maybe the police were close to finding their—no, _her_ location, before she completely dismissed it with a painful scoff.

Her physical appearance wasn't unlike her twin's on the opposite bed; they had the same color and length of hair, same big, hazel-green eyes, only hers weren't glassy with death, but with unshed tears. There were burns from cigarette bums and scars of different length and shapes littering her weak frame; you could see old blood had once pooled between her legs and the inside of her thighs seemed to have been mutilated mercilessly by her captors. Much like her brother, the most aggressive of their captors had taken their time to carve the word _"whore"_ into the pale and heavily scarred flesh of her right inner thigh.

Her arms and legs were chained down from the cuffs tying her down to the rusted metal framed bed; the flesh of her ankles and wrists were raw and flaked because of her jerky movements from trying to flee over the time of her captivity. Like her brother, she only donned an old, tattered, baggy T-shirt that went up to her mid-thigh; the fabric was thin and worn after an entire year of being on her, allowing you to see where her ribcage ended and where her belly dipped due to malnutrition. Each rib was visible, and at least two of them were broken; bruises trailed from her breasts up to her neck, where black and blue handprints could be seen going around her small throat; a small scar went down vertically at the nape of her neck to her collarbone.

Her face had paled over the time of her captivity and it was no longer the beautiful olive tone that she and her brother had been known for in their community. Her lips were chapped and bleeding; her throat was dry making each breath a painful croak surfacing from her mouth. Her wrist was twisted in a weird angle and had numbed over three days ago. She was in pain, an unending pain. _It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…._

_Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dyl_… it ran like a mantra through her mind, blocking out the rest of her senses, even the pain and agony she felt from her own wounds…_Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dyl… _he was gone, really gone; he had died, leaving her alone with his corpse, flies, and mosquitoes for company. _Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, DYLAN…._

Dorian thought back to the day she and Dylan had been kidnapped off the streets a block away from their home. It had started out as a normal day—the twins had been sharing the same bed since they had been brought home from the hospital 14 years previously. It wasn't as if their parents (and their parents' maids) hadn't tried to separate them before, but it was that the twins had always refused. They needed to be together; it was just wrong when they weren't. They woke up at seven like they usually did, took baths, and made themselves a quick breakfast. The twins lived alone in a penthouse apartment because their wealthy parents literally couldn't stand to see their faces, once a week a maid from the main house came to check up on them to see if they were still alive. They had been living alone in that apartment since they were five and they had no delusions that one day their parents would wake up and decide that they had actually loved the twins the entire time. No, they knew where they stood in their parents eyes. They were _abominations._

Their parents, Takahashi Kaito and Marie Montenegro-Kaito, had been adventurous in their youth, and a one-night stand-in led to the conception of the twins and their forced marriage by the elders in their families. Due to their arranged marriage, they both lost their lovers and grew to resent their unborn children. They both came from wealthy families who didn't care that they were condemning their children and, by extension, their grandchildren to a loveless marriage.

Takahashi Kaito was a tall man for being Japanese; he had pale skin, dark brown, almond shaped eyes, and jet black hair. His family owned one of the oldest and most successful video/movie production companies in Japan, making one of the most desirable bachelors when he was in his prime. He was the only child of his two strict and very old-fashioned parents. Marie Montenegro-Kaito couldn't be more different from her husband. She was a Hispanic woman through and through; her mocha-tan flawless skin, hourglass figure, and large, bright, exotic, emerald-green eyes made her pop out from the crowd. She was the third child and only daughter of a rich Venezuelan family that owned an infamous model agency. Her parents were extremely religious and didn't believe in abortion; when Marie became pregnant with the twins, they forced her to marry Takahashi in hope that it would a good business proposal and that they would fall in love with one another and raise their children together.

When the twins were born six months after their wedding, the relationship between Takahashi and Marie continued to deteriorate, until a close friend of Marie came up with a solution. They would place the twins in a separate apartment once they turned five years of age and wouldn't have contact with them unless one of the grandparents wanted to see them (they wouldn't know about the sleeping arrangements, as they actually cared about their heirs).

The maids taught the twins how to cook, clean, manage their allowances, and basically take care of themselves from a young age. It was always that way, but that didn't mean that they didn't know that it was not at all normal for children to live by themselves. They had been acutely aware of that fact since they were small tykes coming home from kindergarten, waiting for someone at the gate of the school who never came. In the end, they convinced themselves that they didn't need any one else as long as they had each other; they were a father, mother, sister and brother to each other. They were a family and, to them, they were a perfect one.

The day that ended in disaster was, like stated previously, a normal one; they continued their morning routine before they went to school. They were let out at2:30 PM like usual, and they proceeded to rush home to change so that they could go play basketball with the kids that lived in the orphanage three blocks away from the apartment. It was only until after the game that everything went horribly wrong.

The twins were dressed in identical, light gray, long, skinny yoga pants, black converse, and opened light blue sweaters over a large and baggy black (Dylan) or white (Dorian) T-shirt. Their short, wavy golden-brown hair was parted in different directions and stuck to their foreheads after having been playing nonstop since they arrived at the court at three.

Dorian and Dylan were playing their favorite game—pretend they're drunk and make a lot of commotion in the neighborhood to bug the neighbors! They leaned heavily against one another as they "drunkenly" stumbled towards one of the quieter streets; the only sounds that could be heard were their loud laughter as they teased and joked with one another. Dylan had finally managed to convince Dorian to give him a piggy-back ride the rest of the way home when they heard tires squealing behind them.

A sleek, brand new-looking black van blocked them from walking down the rest of the street; the sliding doors of the van were practically ripped open as four armed men from inside of the van stormed outside, surrounding the twins quickly. The man holding the metal bat swung at Dylan a few times as his sister behind him tried to cover his back from the other men. But they were grossly outnumbered; the man with the bat (whom they later _affectionately_ named Demon Eye, or DE for short) whacked Dylan on the back of his head with the heavy metal bat. A loud crack rang through the street; he blacked out instantly. Dorian didn't stand a chance; she could have run and left her brother behind to get help, but she doubted that he would still be there if she left. She stayed and was knocked out and kidnapped along with her 'baby brother' by five minutes.

The men who had kidnapped them did so with the intention to get ransom from the Kaito Corporation, which had scammed them into giving up their small yet successful fishing company three months before. What the Kaito Corporation didn't know was that the "small-time" successful business boss was actually well known in the underground world as the Akuma Avu~enjā, a ruthless and heartless Yakuza Boss known for giving back all of his misfortune by ten-fold to his enemies and victims. Through his form of revenge against the Kaito Corporation, Saito Izuna had been expecting to get the money he had ransomed through the form of the twins and more for having the Corp's only heirs; what he didn't expect was for Takahashi Kaito and Marie Montenegro-Kaito to not give a damn for their children and to practically leave them to their fates at the hands of the Yakuza. (Not that the _parents_ had even noticed their disappearance until three months had passed when the twins teachers' had had enough of Dylan and Dorian "skipping" class and called them up.)

In the end Saito decided to just keep the twins until their parents decided to give a damn, so when he received a note from Takahashi Kaito and Marie Montenegro-Kaito six months after Dylan and Dorian were kidnapped stating to "_keep the stupid little spawns that had _ruined_ their lives by being conceived, and to make sure that they _suffered," he was beyond infuriated. While he felt bad for the twins who had been abandoned by their extremely happy _parents_, he still needed to get his money back from the Kaito Corporation. He led the police on a wild goose chase after "accidentally" letting it slip that he had the two being held captive. Takahashi Kaito and Marie Montenegro-Kaito played the hysterical, loving, and concerned parents' role well as the news of the twins' capture went global.

That had happened almost a year ago. The almost-15-year-old Dorian Kaito lay on the thin mattress, staring into her 'baby brothers' eyes as she felt her uneven and painful breaths begin to come to an end. _Dylan, I'm coming_, she thought absentmindedly and briefly as she exhaled shakily one more time before joining her brother in death.

Or so she believed she would, because fate had other plans for her.

**_Preview:_**

_"__What do you mean, I get a second chance?" Dorian whispered as she stared at the translucent figure in front of her._

_"__Exactly that, child. You and your brother both deserve to live your lives out fully," the unearthly being softly replied to her._

_"__Brother?" Dorian parroted absentmindedly before the creatures words seemed to make a connection in her tired mind._

_"__Dylan?!" she exclaimed, looking at Fate's eyes. "Dylan, where is he? Is he here too? Please tell me where my brother is!"_

**Author's Note:**

This is my first FanFic, and you can see that there are definitely some differences in my writing style compared to that of my younger sister, Nana-Chin.

Just so you know, this is going to be an Ace/OC pairing because I absolutely adore Ace and can't believe that he didn't end up with someone before he… *chokes up*…died.

Anyway tell me what you think (good/bad/justplaindepressing); you know the works.

I'd like to give special credit to my beta Erin Hanyu Lynch (isn't she a doll whenever I get a little carried away she brings me back to earth)

Mara-Chan


	2. Chapter Two: Rebirth

Chapter Two: _Rebirth_

She woke up and groaned as she lifted her arm to shield her sensitive eyes from the blinding light shining down on her. _What's going on?_ She thought briefly before reality caught up to her and she remembered what had happened recently. Her eyes began to burn as tears threatened to overrun her face. _No!_ This couldn't be happening to her; she couldn't be alive as her beloved baby brother lay permanently still across the other side of the room. She couldn't be alive as her only family member lay dead to her and the rest of the world; life wouldn't be worth living then.

Dorian was about to let the sob that had been building up in her chest out when she realized that it was wrong. Everything about her current situation was wrong. For the first time throughout her almost two year stay in the small, dirty apartment, she couldn't feel the itchy, thin hay-stuffed mattress underneath her clammy skin. Without even opening her eyes, she knew for a fact that her position in the cramped apartment had never before allowed for her to feel the morning sun lick her face and the electricity hadn't worked in the abandoned building for ten years, so what light was shining on her face that was strong enough to bring her out of the most peaceful sleep that she had experienced in years? The most obvious sign that she wasn't in her personal hell any longer was not that the air she was breathing was no longer heavy and putrid, nor was it that the shackles that had held her down during the entirety of her stay no longer bound her to her prison, but the fact that she wasn't in pain any at all.

When was the last time she didn't feel any pain? Dorian could barely recall the time she spent with her brother outside of hell without any kind of pain, the long summer nights filled with laughter and games, but even then she could still remember the emotional pain inflicted on her from her _parents_.

Dorian sat up abruptly and instantly regretted it when her stomach lurched up to her throat and her head pounded at the sudden movement. _Ah, there's the pain; I knew it was too good to be true._ She brought her hands up to her head and held it between her legs as her eyes got used to the lighting without blurring. When she was finally able to open her eyes without them stinging, she was astounded by her surroundings. She was literally sitting in a white void; there was nothing surrounding her. Everywhere the eye could see was white. The words "Am I dead?" seemed to have slipped out of her long-unused throat quietly without her notice.

She whipped her head back quickly when she heard the soft tinkling sounds of laughter coming from behind her. Her indignant exclamation died in her throat as she gasped at the figure behind her. The person—no, _being_ behind her (because no person could be that beautiful) was gorgeous; she was like a bright shining light as her pale skin seemed to glow. Beautiful, baby blue eyes were framed by silky-looking, snow-white hair that trailed all the way down to her feet. She was wearing a Grecian-styled white tunic held together by a gold colored band underneath her bust; she wore no shoes but it didn't seem as if she needed them as glided through the room towards Dorian. Her plump lips were turned up as she smiled bemusedly at the girl; she lifted a small dainty hand to Dorian's cheek as another giggle escaped from her lips before she replied.

_"__In a way, child, you are, but in another, you are not."_

Her voice was as pleasant as her Tinkerbell-like laugh and made Dorian feel warm as the being's words reached her ears.

Confused, Dorian intelligently let her know.

"What? Who are you?"

Alright, maybe not so intelligently, but it still got her point across. It also made the being laugh once more, making Dorian smile despite herself back at the beautiful creature.

_"__Child, what I mean is that, while your body in your world no longer breathes, you're here still living."_ Seeing Dorian's expression become even more confused, she continued to explain.

_"__You are dead to the world you were born in, but I felt that you deserved a second chance because your life was cut short unfairly."_ She smiled serenely at Dorian before her lips quirked up once more before stating, _"Child, I'm known as Fate to those who believe."_

"What do you mean, I get a second chance?" Dorian whispered as she stared, hypnotized, at the translucent figure crouching in front of her that had revealed to her serenely that she was Fate.

_"__Exactly that, child. You and your brother both deserve to live your lives out fully," _the unearthly being's soft voice replied to her. Dorian couldn't bring herself to be angry at being called 'child' by Fate; it warmed her up to be called so sweetly by such a caring figure.

"Brother?" Dorian parroted Fate absentmindedly before the creature's words seemed to make a connection in her tired mind. "Dylan?!" she exclaimed, looking at Fate's bright blue eyes.

"Dylan," she repeated once more as she looked around her as though she was expecting him to pop out all of the sudden. "Where is he? Is he here, too? Please tell me where my brother is!"

_"__Shh, hush, child. Be calm, young one. Your brother is no longer here; he has already started his journey,"_ Fate consoled her as she threaded her nimble fingers though her hair.

"Journey?" Dorian mumbled as her brow scrunched up in confusion as she looked at Fate imploringly.

_"__Yes, child, journey. Dylan has already started his journey in his new world, one you probably recognize as the 'Naruto' Universe,"_ Fate said in a serene manner, as if the words that had just spewed out of her mouth actually made sense.

"Naruto?" Dorian's eye's widened as she finally made the connection between the manga and the place her baby brother had been sent to.

"You mean he's real? They're real and…and Dylan's there!" she spat out in alarm. "My baby brother is in a world dominated by power-hungry, gay-pedophilic ninja who wouldn't think twice about ending Dylan's life or doing worse...

_I need to sit down...wait, I'm already sitting; why's the world still spinning?_

Fate giggled once more at Dorian's reaction before her expression became more serious and she explained to the now panicking and hyperventilating teen. "_Child, you need to calm yourself down before you accidentally pass out. And while your brother has found himself situated into another more dangerous world it was all out of free will._"

Dorian breathed in and out deeply three times as her mind wrapped the idea around her mind that her (idiotic) baby brother _chose_ to be reborn into such a dangerous environment. She hardened her expression and glared at the creature that had just turned her entire world upside down.

"What's the catch? There has to be some logical reason that my brother decided to gallant off into an unknown situation without _me_." Her voice cracked at the last syllable of her sentence, expressing her troubled sorrow at being left behind by Dylan.

Fate gave her another smile full of kindness as she gently lifted her hand to caress Dorian's cheek, exactly how Dorian had seen the mothers of her friends do to them. It made her feel like a small child again, but most importantly it made her feel loved. "_Child, before your brother left I gave him two choices, the same two I will offer you. You will either ascend to the afterlife, known to many as heaven, or be reborn into separate realms. Where you will both have the chance to actually live your lives._"

Dorian stared at the serenely smiling creature; her eyes began to sting as she unsuccessfully began to fight the stubborn tears beginning to flow down her face. Brokenly, she asked "So we will never see each other again? He chose to leave me behind? He chose…" Dorian never finished babbling her sentence as she began to sob in earnest.

Fate rubbed her back gently as she reassured the broken and sobbing teen in front of her that '_No Dylan did not blame her for their kidnapping_' and that '_Yes he still loves her unconditionally._' By the time Dorian had finally stopped sobbing, she had confessed all her guilt and self –hatred to the being that held her close.

It felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off her chest, and Dorian couldn't help but feel light headed at the end of her crying-fit… that and more than little embarrassed that she had just poured her heart out to the angelic and comforting creature, Fate was still a stranger even if she was everything she could have ever wanted in a mother-figure.

"_Child you didn't let me finish explaining, you will see your brother again, if choose to be reborn once more that is, at One Piece,_" Fate explained patiently.

Dorian blinked. "So what you're saying…" she sniffed out, "…is that at the end of my journey, I'll see him again… he chose to go off into a new world in the hope that I would follow him and meet him in the end!" By the time she ended her sentence, Dorian was shouting indignantly while searching the room futilely for the cause of her ire.

"Yes." Fate stated amusedly, "_He was rather confident that you would follow after him, he specifically said 'She would have chosen to go straight to heaven if you'd had met her first, 'cause as much as I love her I'm not delusional enough to believe that she'd take the easy way out because she's afraid of the change…. But now she'll definitely come! If only to keep me out of trouble, not that I'm going to get into trouble, I mean look at me I'm too adorable to get into problems… then again…' Your brother than continued on telling me about how he wasn't a 'trouble magnet' and that you were just a 'worry-wart of epic proportions' while exaggerating his facial expressions and hand movements._" She giggled out, while staring at the now infuriated teen.

Dorian's eye began to furiously twitch, "I'll kill him, I'll be reborn and go on this adventure, just to reach One Piece and strangle him for saying that entire BS!" as she grounded out, all the while making strangling motions with her hands.

Fate laughed at her expression, as Dorian stopped her murderous ramblings and sheepishly apologized to the extremely amused being.

"_Child, you and Dylan are both amusing mortals._" Fate giggled out, to the now very embarrassed Dorian, before she became serious "_So you have decided to be reborn into the One Piece world Dorian._"

"Yes, I'm going to make it to the end of One Piece and meet up with Dylan at the end (I will still be kicking his but though!)." Dorian said full of determination.

_"__Good, I am proud of your decision Child._" Making Dorian smile at the being's words before she continued on, "_Child you will be arriving in the One Piece world at the age of 9 ½ summers old, and sadly the scars of the torture and various injuries that you received while in the hands of those monsters will follow you into the new world._" The being said in a regretful tone.

"Its fine, I actually prefer it like that, this way I won't ever forget about the pain I went through at their hands… besides I can say that I got the scars and injuries at the hands of the World Nobles." Dorian said thoughtfully.

Fate smiled serenely once more at the contemplating Dorian, '_This mortal has one of the strongest wills that I have ever encountered, and I know she and her brother will make it far._'

"_Child this is where you and I will have to part, someone will find you soon, hold onto the driftwood tightly, and I'll make sure that you won't encounter any sea creatures as you wait for your rescuers._" Fate told Dorian as she snapped out of the daze she had fallen into.

Dorian nodded faintly, before her head snapped up to look at the now fading figure of Fate, "What do you mean!" Dorian yelped as she fell back and hit the sea water that had materialized around her.

The water stung her eyes and various injuries as she resurfaced to the top and took gulping breaths of air, her hands blindly searched the area in front of her, grabbing at the cool water, in a seemingly futile attempt, to hold onto something that would keep her afloat. Her efforts weren't in vain as her small scarred hands grabbed onto a crate floating in the water. Lifting half of her body over the crate, she rubbed her eyes and looked around the vast area of water in a confused manner. Her injuries were screaming, especially her inflamed wrist.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I guess it's too late to change my mind…." She grumbled out softly as the edges of the world began to darken. "Dylan you are so dead when I find you again…" she whispered out into the silence before she allowed her tired eyes to close.

**_Preview:_**

_"MAN OVERBOARD!"_

_"I'm Shanks, the captain of this ship. What's your name chibi?" the Red-haired man asked her curiously._

_"You brought me back a present… that's not a present… that's a girl!" The black-haired boy cried out (literally, he was bleeding pretty badly), whom she knew was Luffy, pouted cutely in Dorian's opinion… even though there was blood running down the left side of his face, from where he well stabbed himself. "Baka" She quietly mumbled from Shanks side as the rest of the crew freaked out over the self-inflicted stab wound._

**Author's Note:**

Hey, hey! I'm back!

So did you like it! I'll admit the second chapie wasn't very exciting, but it had to be done!

A special thanks to my BETA Erin and my fist reviewer **Itachi (Guest)**, this chapter is dedicated to you since you're the reason I got off my ass and finished the 2nd chapter!

By the way here are the answers to your questions:

As you can see, Dylan won't really be a part of the story; he's more like a goal for Dori. He was her entire world so completely taking him out would have probably driven her insane and eventually killed her… Also that wasn't Dori (hopefully the new picture I posted is visible) that was the profile picture of me and Nana (we share this account)… and I'll be updating (approximately) every 2 weeks, as I am a high school senior and I have so much makeup work due before midterms

Do you guys think I should make another Fic portraying Dylan's POV in the Naruto universe?

Fav/Follow/Review!

Mara-Chan


	3. Chapter 3: Rescued?

Chapter Three: _Rescued?_

It was a beautiful day out at sea. Clouds were blank from the horizon, a steady breeze pulled at the sails and the early afternoon sun was dead-center in the sky. Overall it was a normal, boring day onboard of the Red Force. The crew members of the Akagami Kaizoku-dan (or the Red-Hair Pirates) were going about their daily chores and thanking their "lucky stars" that they hadn't encountered any problems on their voyage back to Fooshia village to visit their favorite "king of the pirates to be…"

Shanks had been lazing about on the deck, and had just fallen asleep on his armchair half an hour previously when the cry of one of his newer crew members awoke him from his nap.

"MAN OVERBOARD! 75 DEGREES WEST!" He crowed loudly.

Everyone froze momentarily before they all jumped into action at once. Shanks, having been startled from his short-lived nap, belted out orders to the crew as the Red Force groaned toward the figure clinging on to the driftwood. Shanks eyes widened as the figures appearance and age became clearer as they approached the small craft. It was a young child, there was no mistake about that considering the figures small stature made the kid appear to be around 6 to 7 years old, and he couldn't identify whether or not the scrawny kid was male or female (as the child's hair was chin length, and the kids face was turned away from him).

"Weigh the anchor; we can't get any closer to the gaki!" Shanks called out as he shed his shoes, coat and effects. As he made his way over to the balcony he passed his straw hat to his first mate and called out, "I'm jumping in to get the kid, pull us up quickly when we get to the side… who knows how long the gaki has been drifting..." Shanks called out as he dived over the railing.

The cool sea water surrounded him quickly and he breeched the surface just as fast, taking a deep breath as he began to swim to the stranded child. A couple of strokes later he had the small kid in his arms and he carefully made his way back to the ship. After being pulled onto the deck he finally got a good look at his sleeping charge, the girl was littered in bruises and new/old scars that morbidly matched with her skeletal figure. Her skin was pale even though it was quite obvious that she had been stranded at sea for a while now because of her flayed lips and peeling skin. Donning only an old baggy t-shirt, that looked more like rags from how long she'd been wearing it, emphasized her malnourished state stuck to her skin making it possible for him to count her ribs. Her wrists and ankles were raw and infected.

_'She had been shackled to something recently… a slave?'_ Shanks pondered as his eyes roamed the rest of her wounds.

Dori woke up feeling extremely disoriented; the earth seemed to be speeding on its axis without pause. The strong smell of the sea and the rocking of the ship certainly didn't help Dori fight back her nausea in the slightest, she could feel the acidic bile beginning to tickle her throat and couldn't help letting out a pained moan-_'Wait, rocking of a ship?' _her pain addled mind formulated.

Dori's eyes flew open in panic as she quickly sat up, _'Where was she? Where was Dylan? Were they finally free?'_ before she remembered the events that occurred in that limbo like state. Meeting Lady Fate and how her idiotic little brother jumped head first into a dangerous adventure, that really couldn't end well, and how she was now also embarked on her own "little journey" so that she could kick his ass six ways to Sunday when she reached One piece, that is if she ever did… _'No, I have to reach it!_' her mind groggily pleaded to no one at all. Immediately her hazel-green eyes began to water up as the late afternoon sun shined mercilessly down on her face, she ignored the familiar aching pain that had become a daily companion in her life since her kidnapping to look around at her surroundings incredulously. Feverishly she took in the cabin she was resting in, there were various medical appliances scattered in open cabinets and opened drawers, there were two other harmless unoccupied beds to her right with matching white and red striped cover sheets. The undercurrent smell of cleaning alcohol and disinfectant clung to the room and she quickly concluded that she must be in some kind of sick-bay of some kind, the cabin door was closed but she could hear the floorboards creaking and hushed voices from the other side of the doors. The small opened window above 'her' bed was the culprit of her burning eyes, and even from where she was sitting, she could hear the crying gulls that where without a doubt flying above the ship.

Dori groaned in pain as her rough movement caused her broken ribs unnecessary grief, glassy eyed she looked up in alarm as the cabin door creaked open and a man with the most vibrant red hair poked his head through the gab. Dori couldn't help the irrational (or really the rational, considering all she had gone through in the previous month) fear that build up when his brown eyes locked with hers. She had learned throughout her time in hell that men were dangerous, no matter how innocent their intentions might seem, her scarred right thigh almost seemed to pulsate in agreement with this thought, forever reminding her of her stripped innocence. Despite her fear of the man, she couldn't help but feel that he looked familiar with his goofy smile and bright eyes that looked at her with a mixture of joy and concern (_'Of course he couldn't be concerned about her though, he didn't even know her!'_) and a silly straw hat with a red band stitched on as an added design. He kinda reminded her of a farmer, he was only missing a piece of straw to hang from his mouth, really the only feature that belayed an easy-going lifestyle were the three diagonal scars going over his left eye.

"Hey, you're up!" he exclaimed cheerfully, as he ignored the full-body flinch Dori gave in response to finally being addressed. He slowly moved away from the door way to a chair that was placed (not so conveniently in her opinion) next to her bed. His actions reminisced of a man approaching a feral cornered animal, all the while goofy grin remained on his face. "I'm not sure if you've heard of me, but I'm Shanks, the captain of this fine vessel. We found you drifting about an hour ago and we couldn't leave you there with a clean conscience, how are you feeling gaki? You had a rather nasty sun burn, just how long were you drifting? There haven't been any big storms in a while..." He babbled good-naturally before glancing upon Dori's somewhat skeptical and wary expression-_'So that's where I recognized him'_ she thought absentmindedly as she subconsciously began to lose some of the tension in her muscles from the fear of being in the presence of an unknown male, not really believing what was happening right now- Shanks face reddened while he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, making his straw hat tip slightly to the side "Sorry, I'm not really giving you chance to answer aren't I? What's your name gaki, I can't very well call you gaki for the rest of the voyage?"

Dori opened her mouth for the first time in what felt like life time, only to choke from her parched throat. Shanks flailed momentarily, as her body was raked with vicious coughs before he got up and retrieved a glass of cold water and offered it to her. Dori warily grabbed the glass, careful to avoid any physical contact with the man's hands-despite the fact that she knew Shanks to be an honest man-and carefully brought up the glass to her trembling parched lips. She downed the glass with reverence. Oh, how long had it been since she drank a cup of clean water! _'Much too long'_ Dori thought a little cynically.

She glanced at Shanks from the rim of her cup, before reluctantly handing him back the now empty cup. "Dorian." she croaked, and then winced at the pitiful and young sound of her broken voice. "My name's Dorian, not gaki, but Dyl called me Dori." she finished while locking her eyes with Shanks comforting dark chocolate pools.

"Dyl?" he asked somewhat curiously and reluctant as he watched her facial expression change to despair.

"Dylan, my twin, he's gone" Dori whispered quietly as she ripped her gaze from Shanks, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes to her plight.

"I see," Shanks responded just as morosely back to the tiny and fragile skeletal looking girl sitting up on the bed, "I'm sorry" he finished somewhat lamely.

"I'm not." Dori was as surprised at her own response as he was, "He was hurting, I'm glad. I'm happy he isn't in pain anymore." She explained sadly, despite knowing that her brother wasn't really dead due to the intervention of Lady Fate, Dori was surprised to realize the truth in that statement. Dylan was dead to her in a way, he was unreachable to her and he would be for a long time unless she somehow made it to One Piece. She wouldn't be seeing the only family she ever had in the world, and that hurt more than any of the pain she had ever felt while being tortured. She snapped her eyes back at him when the ship lurched underneath her as it hit one of the bigger waves, "Where am I anyway Shanks?" Dori inquired tiredly.

He smiled at her softly before proudly answering her, "We are on my ship, The Red Force. But we are currently on our way to Fooshia village." Dori just looked at him blankly. "In the East Blue." Shanks elaborated. _'Fooshia Village in the East Blue, East Blue, East Blue… where have I heard of that?'_ she pondered, before her exhausted mind made the connection making her hazel-green eyes widened _'Isn't that Luffy's home town?'_

"Hmm, I guess from your facial expression gaki, I mean Dori," Shanks amended after being glared at by the small girl on infirmary bed, "that you're far from home, aren't you?"

Dori's smile was small and bitter, her eyes were shadowed and much too dark… old to belong to a child, "You have no idea Cap'n. But then again before we were taken, we never really had a home anyway…" her voice cracked with fear when she uttered the word 'taken' before snapping out of the memory of her kidnapping, and focusing her haunting gaze once more at Shanks, letting him come up with his own conclusions.

"I see, well do you have anywhere to go?" Shanks inquired softly. _'Taken? So she was a slave, how cruel, she must have escaped after her twin passed away. She's lucky that she wasn't branded…' _He thought to himself.

"No." Her answer was short and to the point, but Dori had never felt more alone in her life until that moment.

"Hmm, well I know a boy about your age back at Fooshia Village. He's seven years old, his name is Luffy, he's an orphan too. Ms. Makino, the bar keeper, looks after him while his grandfather travels." Shanks explained, "Would you like to meet him? He's a rather lonely brat, there don't seem to be any other kids on the island…" he trailed off looking at her expectedly.

Dori bit the inside of her, Dylan would have killed to meet Luffy (he, did after all, admire him), but that only seemed to make her sadder. "I guess it wouldn't hurt…" she mumbled before petulantly adding, "Cap'n Shanks, this Luffy kid is almost three years younger than me! What do you mean he looks about my age!" She groused at the red-haired pirate.

Said red-haired pirate sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before elaborating that Dori was rather small for her apparent age and that he hadn't mean to offend her, only for Dori to further aggravate her wounds when she tried tackle the easy-going man (who was seriously starting to remind her of her brother) for his slight to her stature. In the end Shanks proceeded to freak out when various of her injuries caused her bandage wrapped body_-'When had that happened, I hope no one saw my body… it's hideous'_\- to pink with her body's life force. Their little meeting ended with the doctor on board kicking out Shanks from the sick bay, as he fussed over Dori's wounds and ignored her flinches when she subconsciously moved away from his touch. Dori ended up drifting off soon afterword's (after having finished a light bowl of soup that is), not able to resist sleep for the first time in a warm comfortable bed in months.

Dori woke up to the sound of organized chaos as people were moving around up deck, shouts directing where "so and so" crates should go were echoing down to her. She moaned in pain, before covering her eyes with her arm, she absentmindedly realized that the Ship's Doctor had wrapped up her one broken wrist before looking up as the cabin door was once more opened by the-annoying- straw hat Captain.

"Hey chibi, we've arrived to Fooshia Village. Are you up to walking, or do you want me to carry you?" He teased.

Dori scowled in his direction, "I can walk on my own thank you," she shot back at him 'At least I think…' Dori sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate her wounds and save herself from another lecture from the ships doctor, gingerly she placed her feet to the ground. She couldn't help but marvel at the feet; this would be the first time she walked in months. Absentmindedly she wondered if it was possible for a human being to forget how to walk, before she dismissed the thought to the back of her mind.

She stood. Her legs were shaking from the strain and she had already started to pant from excursion but Dori couldn't help but feel elated. The ability of being able to walk meant she had freedom to go anywhere her feet decided to take her. She felt free. She took a small step forward… and promptly tripped on thin air. She would have had a rather painful introduction with the infirmary floor if Shanks hadn't caught her in time, sweeping her off her feet (literally); he smiled before teasingly barking "Well, chibi if you wanted me to carry you princess style all you had to do was ask!"

Dori froze. She wasn't in Shanks arms in that moment; she wasn't even on the Red Force. She was back in that abandoned hospital, Dori could feel the thick humid-summer air suffocating her as one of her tormentors accosted her, Dylan's cries could be heard in the background as well as sick-_sick_-sounds of pleasure accompanied by the steady beat of hips crashing into a raw and wet-_bloody_-ass. Tears involuntarily gathered in her hazel-green eyes, "Please, please… no. No more it hurts, it hurts, please stop. Please. Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me it hurts, please… Mercy, have mercy, they don't love us, we don't have money. Not Dylan, please, you're hurting me, please. Help, why won't anyone help us, please don't touch me, don't touch_ me_." she whimpered pitifully, still completely absorbed in the horrific memory.

Shanks eyes widened, sure he and Doc had suspected that it was possible that the small girl trembling in fear residing his arms had most likely been sexually abused based off the horrific scarring that covered her lower body, besides the word '_whore_' carved into her young flesh. Shanks had prayed to every deity he'd ever heard of that they were wrong; he had never wished with all of his might that he wasn't right until that moment.

"Shhhh, shhhh. It's alright, you're safe now. You're safe, they aren't here. I'm not going to hurt you…" Shanks whispered sweet nothings into her ear as he rocked her gently in his arms until her silent tears stopped trekking down her wary face. The intense trembling that had overtaken her body when the memory began to replay in her mind stopped, as she sank-practically melted-into his arms. "Are you alright now?" he asked softly in concern.

Dori nodded her head; she looked like an old broken and frayed china doll, nothing like the little spit fire from earlier in the afternoon who tries to tackle him when he called her short. "Do you still want me to take you out of here? You don't have to go if you're not ready, I won't push you." He murmured soothingly.

"No. I- I, I want to see the outside. Please, I haven't- I can't remember what it feels like to be…" Dori pleaded, looking reminiscent to the scared and begging child that she had been turned into earlier, trailing off in the end not knowing how to convey to Shanks her desire to see the outside world once more.

"Alright chibi, we'll take it slow though. If you get afraid for any reason just tell me and I'll take care of it, okay?"

"Hmm," Dori agreed quietly.

Shanks moved towards the cabin door, and suddenly Dori was free again. The sun shined through the cracks of the wood as Shanks quietly moved towards the stairs. He was able to walk up the stair without jostling her too much, Dori felt relief that she had been found by such a nice Captain, after all anyone else could-would-have left her stranded there in the middle of the East Blue. As she had originally suspected, the crew members of the Red Force were scurrying about on the deck checking on their inventory and goods, while others were carrying the empty crates and barrels to the port the ship was anchored to in order to restock while they were on the island.

Shanks flip-flops barely made a sound as he moved across the deck, shouting occasional orders at the men, all the while making his way onto the deck of the port. Dori curiously looked around at the village they were anchored at; she could make out Makino's bar (as it was one of the most identifiable buildings close to port) and a couple other non-descript buildings, it was amazing in a way to see a world that had previously only existed on the pages of a (well-beloved, mind you) book come to life before her eyes… it was also probably the only reason why Dori was the first person to notice a little boy with black hair, dark brown eyes and a wide grin stretched across his face approach-read: run towards-the dock.

"SHANKS!" he screamed loudly, gaining the attention of almost all of the bust crew members and said captain that had been busy reprimanding one of his newer recruits while lazing about on a crate (Dori was still comfortably nestled in his arms, since Shanks didn't seem to mind her presence on his person). "You're back!" he exclaimed happily.

Dori let herself study the small seven year old boy whom she was convinced would one day be the king of pirates. He was wearing light blue denim shorts and a white t-shirt with an anchor logo printed on its front. She watched as he bounced happily between the crew members, all the while chatting up a storm. His smile was so bright that it almost hurt to look at, in a way he reminded her of Shanks and of Dylan. Her younger twin had definitely been the more excitable of the two and had virtually no problem making friends with everybody and their grandma… a small involuntary smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she saw the rowdy small boy climb up on top of the 'head' of the ship. H looked a bit angry and frustrated now, so she knew she must have missed something because the next moment later Luffy dragged the knife he'd been clutching in his hands_-'Just how long had he been holding that thing, and who's bright idea was it to let him handle a weapon?'_-across the underside of his left eye. Blood gushed out of his self-inflicted wound as he cried out in pain. Shanks and various crew members were screaming at him in concern as Doc and the others got him down and stitched up the damage left by the knife.

Apparently she wasn't paying attention again because the small boy was staring at her in surprise-'Had he really not noticed that I've been sitting on Shanks lap the entire time?'-and looking up at Shanks for an explanation.

"Ahh, Luffy, well you see I brought you a gift! This is Dori!" Shanks exclaimed, seeming to be pretty proud of his explanation. Dori glared up at him, she wasn't a present someone could give away, even if the little boy in question was adorable (his face was scrunched up in confusion). She pinched Shanks thigh in retaliation and he gave a small yelp-having not expecting the small 'chibi' to do anything in front of so many people-she smirked in the triumph of her revenge.

"You brought me back a present… that's not a present… that's a girl!" The black-haired boy cried out-literally, he was knife wound was still really raw and hurting pretty badly-pouting cutely, at least in Dori's opinion… even though there was blood still running down the left side of his face, from where he well stabbed himself. "Baka" She quietly mumbled from on top of Shanks lap. Luffy's head whipped up and his eyes locked with hers, "Who are you!?" he demanded rather loudly.

"I'm Dori, the Cap'n already told you that," she told him softly before continuing, "and you're Luffy. The Cap'n told me about you."

**_Preview:_**

_The tallest and widest man she had ever seen just barged into, creating a ginormous sized hole in the wall of Makino' bar…._

_He was a lithe boy, and various freckles were adorning his face, but this was not what had caught Dori's attention, nor was it his midnight black hair… it was his eyes. They were a very dark brown, almost black looking in coloring, but at the same time they looked nothing like Luffy's, after all Luffy's eyes never had never held any amount of self-hatred in them. It was haunting for Dori to see her eyes in another's face..._

**Author's Note:**

Hahaha, don't kill me!

I've been really busy since I lasted updated! After all I became an Aunt, had final exams and then final projects, high school graduation, my Abuela went back to Maracaibo, I took up various summer jobs in order to have side cash for the start of my first semester college, turn 18, actually start school, panic about having to take public transportation by myself, get used to my new routine… I guess you can get the picture…

Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I hope that I can update soon!

Fav/Follow/Review!


	4. Chapter 4: GoodbyesAreAlwaysHard,But

**Chapter 4:** _Goodbyes are always Hard, but then again so is saying Hello…_

After the introductions were all through, aka some more shouting occurred as Makino's rath was unleashed on Shanks and the crew who were supposed to be watching over Luffy and keeping him from committing stupid acts, The Red Force Pirates were celebrating a safe voyage back to Foosha village and Luffy's "bravery." Dori sat on Shanks laugh observing the party-goers with curiosity, sure the crew was rowdy but they were relatively harmless-at least she knew they weren't going to turn on her in a whim-despite being the renowned Red-Haired Pirates. While they were all enjoying their grog and beer, she wasn't afraid of them as she had been afraid of Demon Eye and the other Yakuza goons who would get extremely violent after having a few bottles, in fact the carved "whore" in her right inner thigh was a product from one of those days…. the pirates were tame in comparison.

On one of the tables, of the very full bar, the childish pirates were chanting for more grog while the men on the table next to them were fighting for meat wile Lucky Roo, the sharpshooter of the Red-Haired whom she had been introduced to her earlier, chugged down an entire barrel of alcohol on his own. The noise level was through the roof, but Makino didn't seem to mind… and to be honest neither did she. While she and Dyl-her brother had never really grown up well loved, much less in a loud environment (the large apartment they lived in was always rather hauntingly quite, which is why they spent so much time out of the house or making as much noise as possible), they often spent the majority of their day in the orphanage after school was over. It was comforting, she had learned over time to hate the silence during her captivity. The old hospital wasn't around any town and there wasn't a highway close by either, the only time it wasn't silent was when their tormentors were around and that never bode well for the twins. She was drawn into the conversation Shanks, Luffy and Makino were having over the incident that afternoon.

"It didn't hurt a bit!" Luffy exclaimed while tearing up, _'Liar'_ she thought somewhat amusedly, _'it's still definitely hurting him. Baka, who on earth stabs themselves in the face willingly, oh right, he does.'_

Shanks seemed to have been reading her mind because he shouted out in anger and concern "LIAR! That was a foolish thing to do!" Dori couldn't help but giggle, Luffy wasn't even paying attention to the goofy captain.

"I'm not the least afraid of getting hurt! So you have to take me with you on your next voyage!" He continued with enthusiasm, "I wanna be a Pirate too!" he said with an ear to ear grin stretched across his face, his arms were wide open with exuberance, as if to emphasize the validity of his dream.

Peals of laughter bubbled out of Shanks mouth, his shoulders trembled with his laughter jostling her slightly, "You?! A Pirate! Impossible!" Dori looked up at Shank as he continued explaining why he believed Luffy's dream career was an impossible feet for him. "Luffy, do you know why we call you 'Anchor'?" Luffy shook his head, Shanks plowed on, "It's because you can't swim, you just sink! What good is a pirate that can't swim?"

'He has a valid point, but he could have explained a bit nicer… or not..' Dori sighed, if she could sweat drop a giant one would have formed behind her head for sure, Luffy's logic made no sense.

"But if I don't fall overboard," _'Unlikely'_ "then it doesn't matter if I'm an anchor!" _'Yes it does, you could die'_ "Plus, I'm a strong fighter!" _'Oh, God… he really believes that doesn't he?'_ "I've been training! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!" Luffy exclaimed while punching his fist in the air towards Shanks to show him his strength. _'Right… and I'm currently not sitting on the lap of an infamous pirate who was just a fictional character to me not even one whole day ago…'_

Shanks was just as skeptical as she was, their eyes locked momentarily, "A pistol, eh? Is that so…" he said disinterestedly. Luffy looked affronted.

"Are you doubting me!?" He screamed in anger, spittle was flying out of his mouth in his indignation… _'That's just gross'_

The partying members of the crew, who hadn't originally seemed to be paying attention to the conversation happening between their favorite gaki and Captain, suddenly jumped in trying to diffuse the argument in a chaotic fashion. They seemed to have their arms around one another _('They look like a sideways conga line… is that even possible?'_ Dori thought absentmindedly), they kept each other up right as they threw their encouraging words to the small seven year old.

"Calm down Luffy!" "Let's just have a good time!" "Yeah pirates _always_ have a good time!" "The sea is vast, and there are a lot of islands to explore!" "And best of all, Pirates have FREEDOM!" Random crew members, shouted, imparted their… wisdom to the young and impressionable kid in front of them. Luffy, or course, was in awe.

Shanks sighed in exasperation, "You guys, stop filling his head with crazy ideas." It seemed that this wasn't the first time Shanks has had this conversation with Luffy and his rowdy crew. Dori hid smile behind her hand. She leaned back into Shanks in contempt. She had eaten a small meal (a plain bowl of rice with some steamed vegetables on the side, Luffy had thought she was amazing for being able to withstand eating such _horrible_ food) after Makino had noticed how malnourished her frame was. She could feel her mind begin to fog over as sleep began to take over. An inaudible yawn escaped her lips; Shanks must have noticed because he stopped arguing-teasing- with Luffy and looked down at her with a small smile.

"Hmm, you must be tired huh chibi." He said softly, a rather contrast difference in noise level of his voice compared to when he was talking with Luffy.

Dori scowled a little at the chibi comment, she knew she was short but that didn't mean he had to rub it in her face, before she shyly nodded her head after another involuntary yawn escaped from her pouty lips. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was to sleep off her exhaustion.

"Makino-san, I hope you don't mind but do you have a spare bedroom for the chibi to sleep in tonight? It looks like she's ready conk off." Shanks sheepishly asked her.

Makino must have showed Shanks the way to a free room, since Dori found herself waking in a soft comfortable bed that morning when the first rays of sunlight tickled her awake once more. She laid their contently, her eyes ever wondering took in her surroundings. Like the bar, the room seemed to give off a warm feeling and she felt safe within the confines of the room. Since waking up in the infirmary of the Red Force, Dori had begun to realize her light aversions of being trapped in a room..._'Great on top of being afraid of the entire male gender I'm developing claustrophobia...'_

She could hear the rumblings coming from the bar below her, it seemed that the party had been a success since the moaning crew member seemed to be having hangovers. Makino was in the kitchen, based on the sound of clattering pans and complaints that she was being too loud from the migraine inflicted pirates. Luffy was... sleeping? She must have been more foggy minded than she had anticipated if she hadn't immediately realized that there was another bed across from hers that contained a softly snoring seven year old.

His chest was peacefully raising up and down, his small face screamed content, his expression innocent. Her heart tightened in her chest... Dylan had once looked like that. Hell, she once looked like that; a child without a care in the world, at least in Morpheus' realm. The only difference was that Dylan always had a Dorian attached to his side, warming him up in the dead of night and cool morning air. A Dorian that would hug him tight and rub his hair while singing sweet lullabies when nightmares attacked. Dorian also had a Dylan that would hold her hand when she felt alone and unwanted by the world, a Dylan who's very last words on this painful earth, were laments that he was leaving her behind... She felt alone. Luffy looked alone in the too painfully large bed, he seemed to be drowning in the covers.

Luffy let out a small whimper in his sleep, his face scrunched up. _'A night terror?' _Dori looked, really looked at the little boy she had met in person just yesterday for the first time. He was suffering in his own way just as she was, he had just never had a person their fill that gap like her twin once did.

Dori didn't realize that she had even gotten up to move to his bed until her hand stroked his messy, but soft, bed head. She climbed into his bed, the mattress spring shifted a little accommodating her small weight, she pulled the whimpering boy close to her. She stroked his hair reminiscent to the way she had always calmed her own brother from the monsters that lurked in the realm of sleep. Her mouth opened, she breathed in deeply one before confidently singing one of her brother's favorite lullabies.

"Arrorró mi niño,

arrorró mi sol,  
arrorró pedazo,  
de mi corazón.

Este niño lindo  
ya quiere dormir;  
háganle la cuna  
de rosa y jazmín.

Háganle la cama  
en el toronjil,  
y en la cabecera  
pónganle un jazmín  
que con su fragancia  
me lo haga dormir.

Arrorró mi niño,  
arrorró mi sol,  
arrorró pedazo,  
de mi corazón.

Esta leche linda  
que le traigo aquí,  
es para este niño  
que se va a dormir.

Arrorró mi niño,  
arrorró mi sol,  
arrorró pedazo,  
de mi corazón.

Este lindo niño  
se quiere dormir...  
cierra los ojitos  
y los vuelve a abrir.

Arrorró mi niño,  
arrorró mi sol,  
duérmase pedazo,

de mi corazón…" ***

Dori's voice trailed off as she repeated the chorus of the Spanish lullaby once more, Luffy had stopped trembling in his sleep as he melted into the older girl's arms, his whimpers ended as the young voice singing soothed him quietly in his ear. Briefly his eyes opened, looking up at the girl who he had only had small interaction with yesterday, as he had been too excited by Shanks arrival and then later on the commotion that eating that strange fruit had caused him, to really talk with her. He'd never had any interaction with other children before, he was the only child in Foosha Village it was a port town full of only adults and teenagers who didn't have time to play childish games with him, and he hadn't known how to approach the fragile looking girl (_'Dori'_ his sleepy mind supplied to him) on his hero's lap… but this was better than anything he could have imagined, his arms wrapped around her frame, she continued to sing. She was warm, he'd never felt so safe before, he listened to the strange and foreign lullaby and drifted back to sleep with a small smile tugging at his lips.

Dori felt Luffy's small arms wrap around her, she couldn't see his face as he had burrowed himself under her chin, but she was positive the boy was fast asleep. She smiled softly at the thought of Luffy hugging her back in his sleep-'How cute…'-she began to repeat the lullaby one more time and fell asleep once more while giving the chibi snuggled up to her cariñitos.*

When Dori woke up once more it was because Luffy was gently shaking her awake. He smiled brilliantly at her when he noticed her hazel-green eyes were locked on his own dark-chocolate eyes. "Good morning Luffy" she mumbled while rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching.

"Morning!" he chirped back to her.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked him curiously, wanting to know if she had been able to comfort him in the early morning when he had been suffering from a nightmare.

He blushed a little before mumbling sheepishly, "Yup, no one's ever hugged or sung to me before when I had a night mare… Thanks!"

Dori smiled at his slight discomfort before smiling at him reassuringly, "No problem Luffy, that's what big sisters are for.." she told him while thinking of the many mornings that her little brother would cuddle up to her in thanks for comforting him in the night…

Luffy's smile widened when he heard her tell him it was part of the job description of an older sibling. "Big sister? I've never had one of those before.." he told her in an honest hopeful tone. Dori looked at the little boy's wide eyes filled with hope and longing staring back at her. She sighed mentally, this was going to bite her in the butt later on, she just knew it!

"What are you talking about, silly? You're looking at her; I certainly don't see any other brother-sister duo in this room do you?" She asked him rhetorically…

Dori hadn't known that it was possible for his wide smile to get any brighter, but it did. Luffy launched himself at the girl who'd just welcomed him as her own in joy; he'd always wanted siblings…

Dori listened to Luffy babble about this and that, and how cool Shanks was for getting him his very own sister and how he should be the older brother since he was just as tall she was ("But I'm nine Luffy, you're just seven so you can't be the elder sibling!") for a while, before Makino knocked on the door and stepped inside grabbing the attention of the pseudo siblings. Makino's green hair was tucked underneath a plain bandana; she wore a simple t-shirt and skirt combo underneath her cooking apron and boots that disappeared under her skirt. She was pretty, Dori decided.

"Morning you two! Captain Shanks and I were wondering when you two would wake up!" Makino bustled around the small room; making the bed that Dori had originally found herself in and opening the curtains in the room completely to let in the Morning sun. "I was thinking that after you two have had a bath, no Luffy you're taking a bath no matter what-Luffy pouted cutely-you want, you could come down to the bar and have breakfast with the rest of the crew."

Dori smiled, a bath, a real bath with water and soap! She couldn't remember the last time she had felt clean (considering that she had been hot and sweaty when she and Dylan had been kidnapped, she hadn't showered since the night before her abduction). "I would love that Makino-san." She said gratefully as Makino smiled at her and left to set the water temperature in the bathtub. Luffy snapped to look at her feeling betrayed. "Lu, don't look a t me like that, we can take a bath together alright?" Luffy's betrayed expression had melted off after she called him 'Lu', and he let out an excited laugh in response to her suggestion.

"I've never taken a bath with someone else before!" he exclaimed.

"Really? Not even with your parents?" Dori hated bringing up his parents since she already knew that Luffy was essentially an orphan like she was, but she wasn't actually supposed to know that information.

Like she predicted he slumped down, "I don't have any parents..." He said tearfully. Dori wrapped her arms around him.

"Shhh, shh, it's okay Lu. I don't have any parents either… but we have each other now, right? So, it'll be okay Luffy." She comforted him soothingly.

"Luffy! Dori! The bath is ready!" Makino called.

"Coming!" They both replied in unison. The siblings looked at each other before laughing, Dori held onto Luffy's hand as he showed her where the bathroom was.

Taking a bath with Luffy was an experience. He hadn't realized before that boys and girls were anatomically different, besides the fact that the older girls got their breasts increased in size, he had originally freaked out thinking that her "willy" had fallen off and he went through a panicked frenzy trying to find it. He had looked so adorably confused after she had laughed it off and explained it to him, but hey, you learned new things every day. Luffy just learned that girl's didn't have "willy's"… After then two took their sweet time (mostly Dori who was trying to fully enjoy the sensation of being clean) taking a bath, Dori finally allowed them to follow the sounds of their grumbling stomachs leading them to the bar for breakfast. Luffy regaled the events that occurred the previous night after she had fallen asleep in Shanks arms: some wannabe bandit had broken a bottle of sake over Shanks head because he'd been angry that there wasn't any sake left, Shanks laughed it off and picked up the mess left by the bandits without defending his honor, Luffy got angry that Shanks had let the mountain bandit get away with it and started stress eating… which led to Luffy accidentally eating a devil fruit and becoming a rubber man.

_'Ahh, everything is on course… Eww I sound like Dumbledore with all of his manipulations and "it's for the greater good" bullshit…' _

The Red Force was docked at Foosha Village for three more days before they set sail once more, at first Dori couldn't help but feel anxious that her savior was leaving her behind but having to take care of Luffy took her mind off of it. Luffy was a fun kid to hang around with in general, besides he reminded her of Dylan and she knew that if it was her she wouldn't want a chibi version of her twin brother running around without supervision… and if Luffy just so happened to bring her out of self-wallowing, it was just a plus side.

Besides that she learned quickly that Luffy didn't have any other friends on the island and that there were in fact other kids in the village… they just avoided Luffy like he was the plague, especially after they found out he was devil fruit user. Once when Luffy had tried to join a soccer game that a couple boys were playing, while Dori watched from the sidelines, the began to pelt Luffy with rocks so he would go away. When Luffy started crying, Dori's anger and disgust against the village kids blew over the top and she chased them away, she had learned that she was only afraid of older men not children. _"We don't need them Luffy, your Nee-chan will play with you."_ She had told him, thankfully it had been enough for him to stop crying and beam up at her in joy of having a friend…

A couple of weeks had passed and the fateful day of Shanks last trip to the island arrived as well, it was definitely not-so-funny how she had actually forgotten that Shanks would lose his arm to the Sea King while trying to save _her_ and Luffy when the stupid mountain bandit, that had broken a sake bottle over Shanks head and then insulted him, kidnapped them when the Red-haired pirates took out his minions. That's right, _her_ and Luffy. She had been trying to prevent Luffy picking a fight with the sensitive but dangerous bandit when she got stuck in the cross fire when the bandit let a smoke bomb go off, the idiot thought that he would be able to better insure his survival by snatching her as a hostage too. He was wrong. The Red-haired pirates stayed at the village for two entire weeks to let Shanks recuperate from losing his arm before he decided that it was time to move on.

Shanks permanent departure from Foosha Village hit both Luffy and Dori hard. He was their savior, not just from the Sea King (and her from starvation and drowning in the middle of the sea) but from some of the loneliness that had been plaguing them. He was their hero, and the father-like figure that they had both been craving. Shanks departure took place exactly the way it did in the manga/anime. Luffy declared that he was going to be the "King of the Pirates!" and Shanks had knelt down placing his straw-hat on the suddenly tearful seven-year old boy. It was only after promising that they would meet up once more in the future that the "story"-that was becoming her life, and how _terrifying_ is that!-deviated, Shanks had taken off the red sash that was around his waist and placed it on her dark-brown-almost black curly hair. Her hazel-green eyes had snapped up to look at him so quickly Shanks swore he'd heard a snap, but he only smiled kindly down at her.

"This is for you chibi, I know it isn't much but it's just as important to me as that hat… Mostly though it's something for you to remember me by." He had explained sheepishly to the stunned-floored-nine year old.

Dorian could feel her eyes sting as tears began to build up on her lashes and spill over her filling up cheeks. Her lower lip trembled in sadness and happiness, Shanks was one of the few people (one of the only adults) to ever acknowledge her existence.

"How could I ever forget a Captain as stup-silly as you!" she teased as tears continued to stream down her face, she launched herself across to him and hugged him tightly. Shanks eyes flew open in surprise as the little girl actually _initiated_ a hug with him; she had never done this before as she was usually trying to avoid contact with others unless it was Luffy who was looking for a hug. He smiled, feeling privileged that a broken little girl would trust a law-breaking (not that there was anything wrong with that) Pirate Captain like him.

"I'll miss you to chibi." He murmured soothingly to the crying girl, he looked at Luffy seriously before asking him, "Luffy, promise me you'll look after your Nee-chan… she needs you as much as you need her." Luffy nodded his head morosely, before his eyes hardened in determination.

"I will, I promise."

Dori looked at the two most important men currently in her life through blurry tears and smiled despite the situation. She felt loved, and safe… even though she knew she didn't deserve it, after all she was a broken and ruined excuse of a human being.

Luffy and Dori had stayed wrapped in each other's arms looking at the dot on the horizon move further and further until it was on longer visible to the human eye, before they trudged up to the Party Bar where Makino gave them some food to eat and then sent them off to bed.

Luffy had been sitting on their combined beds, as they had pushed them together after the third night Luffy had crawled into Dori's bed at night, watching as his "little-big sister"-not that he would ever call her that to her face, as she would probably beat the snot out of him despite her frail and delicate looking frame-as she changed out of her day clothes into a night dress/gown that had been given to her from Makino. His hat was on the night stand next to Dori's bright red sash, it had become two of their greatest treasures in the short time that it had been given to them. He looked at the ghastly scars that were carved in her still-to-thin body, he only snapped out of his thoughts when Dori cleared her throat inquiringly, she was blushing terribly as she knew that he had been looking at her-_disgusting_-body.

"Sorry Nee-chan, I was just wondering if it hurt…" Luffy asked her attentively, not really knowing what her reaction would be.

The red hue that had been dominating her face disappeared in realization, before smiling adoringly at the concerned little boy. "Only sometimes Lu… and even then it's mostly phantom pains when it rains…" she trailed off as she climbed up to his side, this wasn't an easy task as the bed was tall and it took all of the strength in her arms to pull herself up on it.

"Phantom pains? What's that?" Luffy's nose scrunched up in thought.

_'He's too cute.'_ Dori couldn't help but think.

"It means Lu, that sometimes when it rains I feel the pain I received the first day I got the scars…" looking at Luffy's till confused expression she elaborated quickly, "In other words Lu they only hurt when it rains because it makes me remember when those bad men who took me hurt me and Dyl-" Dori cut herself off, not wanting to explain to the seven year old where her troublesome little brother was.

Luffy looked like he was going to question her some more, before he stopped himself and accepted his sister's response. He curled up onto her as she laid down by his side. Instead he asked another question that Dori wasn't averse to replying to. "Can you sing me the lullaby again?" he asked yawning cutely.

Dori smiled at her tired little brother. "Unn, Arrorró mi niño, arrorró mi sol, arrorró pedazo, de mi corazón…." Dori's voice lulled Luffy to sleep like it always did since the first time she'd ever sung it to him.

Two weeks had passed since Shanks and his crew had left for good, Dori and Luffy had been eating their lunch in peace when they heard a gruff voice scream.. "LUFFY! WHERE ARE YOU!? LUFFY!"

Dori had never seen Luffy pale so fast before in his life, the sickly pale boy jump over the counter and hide in fear. Makino who had been washing the bar with a dust cloth looked up at the door in dismay, knowing that she probably wasn't going to like what would happen next.

She was right.

The tallest and widest man Dori had ever seen_-'Is he part giant?'-_ just barged rashly into, creating a ginormous sized hole during the process, in the poor and unfortunate wall of Makino's bar. Dori could viably see Makino's smile begin to strain as she looked in poorly concealed frustration at the wall, this must happen to her often… poor Makino.

Dori drifted off in what Luffy had started calling "day-dreaming mode" as she looked at the man known for his heroic marine-related deeds by the people, Monkey D. Garp. There was a 'c' shaped scar that went around his left eye only the 'c' flipped so that his left eye was inside of it… His hair was already a grey shade, as he had very few black hairs still mixed in with his aging hair. Garp was wearing a black suit with a white button up shirt underneath it, while he wasn't wearing his marine outfit he still looked very intimidating standing there while yelling at a crying Luffy who was massaging a giant bruise on his head-_wait what!_

_'Ugh, I really need to stop getting lost in my own mind'_ Dori groaned in self-annoyance.

She quickly jumped off the stool and ran between the two, protecting Luffy by putting herself in front of the pained little boy. "Luffy!" she screamed in concern, "Are you okay!?"

"Unn, Nee-chan he hit me!" he whined, "And for no reason too!" he tattled on to her.

Dori turned around and glared hatefully at the man, sure she was terrified but no one hurt her brother except for her!

"No I didn't you GAKI! You were running away from you're loving Jii-chan, and you just told me you want to be a PIRATE of course I had to hit you with one of my fists of love! YOU'RE GOING TO BE A MARINE! Don't listen to him chibi-wait a moment! Who the heck are you any way!?" He screamed at Dori.

Her fear that he would touch her almost caused Dori to paralyze at his enraged face, but one quite sniffle coming from the upset Luffy strengthened her resolve.

"I'm not a chibi! I'm Dorian and there's no way in hell I'm going to let you hurt my little brother any more you old bastard, so stay away from Luffy Jii-chan!" She screamed up at him.

"Really?" he said menacingly. She nodded in determination, only the slight tremble of her hands gave away her fear of being around a man she didn't know

Dori trembled in fear and flinched terribly as his huge-giant-hand came up and… pat her gently on the head?

_'What the hell is going on?'_ she thought bewildered, relaxing her muscles as she realized that the violent man wasn't going to hit her, as the marine's gentle hand rubbed her hair.

"I see, I'll just have to take you with us. After all, what kind of Jii-chan would leave his granddaughter behind?" he asked them rhetorically. Dori and Luffy just looked more confused.

A few minutes later you would have been able to hear the screams of protest of the two children-mostly Luffy as Dori was still trying to process what the _fuck_ just happened-as they were dragged into Mt. Corvo.

Garp was holding onto Luffy's cheek, and the seven year old boy bounced up and down as his cheek stretched with every step that his "loving" Jii-chan took, on the other hand he had his arm under Dori's waist and she hung limply looking around at her new surroundings, Shanks red-sash was being used as a bandana to keep her messy curls out of her face and block the summer sun from burning her scalp.

"What I'm saying is Jii-chan… I'm going to become the King of Pirates!" he exclaimed looking hatefully at the grown man dragging him away from Fooshia Village, his precious straw hat was hanging from the back of his head.

"Cut the crap!" Garp screamed in Luff's face as he lifted him up to meet with the stubborn brats eyes. _'Lu's an idiot, if only he hadn't said anything than Garp- no Jii-chan wouldn't be making us leave Makino..'_ Dori thought resigned.

"Let me go…Let me go" he screamed while slapping Jii-chan's calf trying to get the old man to let go of his sore cheek.

"On top of eating the Devil Fruit you're talking nonsense!" he gruffed angrily before looking down at his grandson sternly. "Luffy! Both you and Ace have to become the strongest navy soldiers!" he said passionately as spittle fell out of his mouth.

"Itai! Itai! Dammit, it hurts! It shouldn't even hurt, I'm made of rubber! Let me go Jii-chan!" he screamed in disbelief as his cheek continued to feel like it was going to detach from his body.

"It was a mistake to leave you in Fooshia Village!" the old man continued , completely ignoring the two children in his grasp except to scold the younger of the two (as Dori hadn't said anything about wanting to break the law in the future by becoming a pirate), "Of all the things, you like pirates!? What a fool!" he screamed.

Dori's eye's widened as she saw Luffy wrap his stretched out arms the base of a tree trunk that began to uproot itself from the strength of Garp's walk and Luffy's grip on it. Jii-chan unfortunately hadn't notice a thing.

"You can't make friends with 'Red-haired' Shanks!" he screamed looking down at her this time before he was cut off as his back made contact with the uprooted tree that ricocheted onto his back from the force that Luffy was holding onto it. It broke on impact; thank god it didn't hit her.

"I wanna become-" began Luffy… before the tree wacked Jii-chan, "Ouch!" screamed the surprised man, before Luffy continued, "-a strong man like Shanks!" he proclaimed while looking balefully at his grandfather.

Dorian just rubbed her butt, while her new Jii-chan screamed a surprised and angry "HEY!" at her stubborn little brother. She tried to fight off the giggles escaping from her amused lips, she really did.

When they had finally arrived to the destination the small mountain path led to they reached a modest sized home, that had definitely seen better days, in a small clearing that was surrounded by the harsh jungle native to the mountain. Garp Jii-chan had let her down gently to the ground and dropped an offended Luffy to the floor as he purposefully knocked loudly on the door.

Luffy just looked at their new surroundings in curiosity, as his Nee-chan kept a firm hand held over his so he wouldn't run off and cause trouble.

"What's this place?" he asked no one in particular as he began to drag an indulgent Dori to the side of the house in order to explore it more as she was also feeling more than a little bit curious over what she knew was going to be their new 'home'.

A big woman, who really looked more like man, with curly red-hair opened the door roughly. Her eyes were screwed shut in anger at the person who was disturbing her peace. Her earrings were going up and down as she screamed out, "Stop it! Whoever you are, do you wanna be KILLED!" she shouted in frustration as she almost lost her still burning cigarette.

"It's me." Garp-Jiji said looking at the now cowering woman in contempt.

Dadan backed away after blinking three times in surprise before stuttering out a strangled "G-G-Garp-san!" as two bandits peeked out from behind her, Dogra (a very short mountain bandit) and Magra (a very funny, rooster-looking mountain bandit) gasped out in surprise at the Marine Admiral.

"You're looking good." Garp said off-handedly to the surprised bandits.

"Give me a break! You have to have mercy on me!" she exclaimed while raising her arms in distress. Dori had now made her way to stand next to her Jii-chan as she looked on at the mountain bandits all the while keeping an eye on the boisterous Luffy. "Ace is ten years old now!" she continued.

"Sou ka, already? How is he?" Jii-chan asked with a small mirthful laugh. Dori just looked at the she-man in curiosity.

"It's not funny!" Dogra snapped at Garp-Jiji, "We can't handle him anymore! You have to take him!" he begged the uninterested man.

"Putting that aside…" Garo-Jiji interrupted, only to have Dogra snap back in frustration "Don't put it aside!" sadly it was ignored by Garp who was trying to reach to the conclusion/goal for him being there in the first place.

Dadan, on the other hand, was starting to get annoyed at the excited Luffy who had been running around in circles behind them. "You annoying kid!" she shouted as Garp reached backwards behind him and picked him by the back of his blue tank top that had the number '56' written on them and then reached over and lifted her up by the straps of her blue-jean overalls.

"Look after them too." He stated simply as Luffy and Dori looked at them confusedly and curiously, respectably.

"Huh?" Dadan murmured.

Luffy's face darkened in anger as he realized what was going on, they were going to live with mountain bandits! He hated mountain bandits, but for now he wasn't going to anything, afterall he had to take care of his Nee-chan now and she'd be disappointed in him if he was rude.

"Ora, Luffy, Dori, say 'hi' to them." He told them while looking at his grandson and granddaughter after saying their names.

"Yo!" Luffy and Dori said in unison, both lifting their right hands in greeting.

"Who are these kids?" Magra asked as Dadan looked too overwhelmed and confused to say anything.

"These are my grandchildren." Garp-Jiji said calmly.

Dadan's eyes widened comically as she and the other two bandits screamed in unison "WHAT!?"

"THERE'S TWO MORE!?" Dogra screamed in fear.

"They're G-Garp's… I mean Garp-san's grandchildren!?" Dadan screamed out in shock.

All three of the bandits got on their knees and screamed in refusal, "We can't!" at the same time, after all there were too many D's that they already had to take care of in their lives…. Two more was pushing it!

Jii-chan had already let them down and Luffy had moved away from the sniveling bandits to admire the jungle surrounding them, Dori having wanted to get away from the screaming bandits and Jiji was holding his hand like it was life line. Behind her she could hear Garp-Jiji's voice harden as he gave the bandits a choice between raising his grandchildren or being incarcerated for their crimes. If it was possible to sweat drop in real life she would have, I mean who the hell blackmails people of _questionable_ origins to take care of his grandchildren (who he expects will one day be marines-'Marines my ass!'-this man was an idiot) through black mail.

Luffy just picked his nose with his unoccupied like the gentleman he was-please not the sarcasm-and shot it out of his nostril like it was a torpedo. "Lu, that's just gross." She told him while scrunching up her nose in disgust. He just gave her a cute grin in response, and her anger just melted away. _'God, this kid will be the end of me!' _Dori internally groused.

"Well I don't want to be arrested but…" Magra began.

"Sometimes I think that maybe it's better than taking care of Ace…" continued Dogra

"But you want us to look after you're grandsons too! I bet they're monsters too." finished Dadan.

_'Wait grandsons… I mean I guess that I don't really look like a girl with my short curly brown hair and red wrist bands that covered up the ugly scars the shackles had left behind on my skin… and wearing plain white t-shirt under some unfeminine looking overalls and small red rain boots probably don't help maintain image a girl… but I didn't think I looked that bad'_ Dori thought morosely as she looked down at what she was wearing, _'I don't look bad enough to look like a monster do I? The majority of my scars are covered up…' _

Luffy saw as Dori's previous somewhat relaxed muscles tense up as she frowned sadly at her hands, "Crappy shack!" he exclaimed finally losing his temper at the bandits only for Dadan to angrily scream back "You wanna fight!?" only to have the seven year old run away again, chasing a blue dragonfly, while dragging Dori away from them.

"He's not listening!" she exclaimed in frustration as her face "kissed" the ground. "Boss, are you alright!" Dogra and Magra parroted at the curly haired woman in concern.

Luffy just continued to drag his sister until something wet and sticky hit the right side of his face, he stopped, bringing a hand to his face to see what was on his cheek. "What is it!? Ugh, spit! Gross!" he screamed in disgust.

Dori's face scrunched up in sympathy before she took out the red handkerchief Makino had made for her and rubbed Luffy's face and hand clean.

"Who did it!?" Luffy shouted in indignation as he looked through the foliage, before locating the perpetrator and moving to confront him. "Hey, you! Say 'sorry'! It's gross!" he exclaimed looking up at the boy sitting precariously on what looked to be a huge kill. He had his left ankle resting on his right knee that was dangling off the beast, his arms were crossed together and his right hand firmly held onto a… pipe. He was wearing plain black shoes that reminded Dori a bit like flats except without the heet, black shorts and a plain red t-shirt.

By that point Garp-Jiji had turned around and spotted the quit ten year old, "Ohh, Ace!"

"Ahh, are you back Ace!?" Magra asked while he helped Dadan up.

He was a lithe boy and muscles were already forming on his pre-teen body, various freckles were also adorning his face… but this was not what had caught Dori's attention, nor was it how his midnight black hair seemed to give off an eerie shine when hit with the sunlight… it was his eyes. They were a very dark brown, almost black looking in coloring, but at the same time they looked nothing like Luffy's, after all Luffy's eyes never had never held any amount of self-hatred in them.

It was haunting for Dori to see her eyes in another's face...

So this was Portgas D. Ace, she refused to allow herself to pity the man-no boy in front of her that she knew wouldn't live beyond the age of 20. _'The world is cruel place.'_

**_Translate: _**

_This is the English translation for Arrorro mi Nino (you can find this song, if you're interested on youtube… In English it's called Hush-a-Bye my Baby:_

_Hush-a-bye my baby  
Hush-a-bye my sun  
Hush-a-bye oh piece  
of my heart._

This pretty child  
Wants to sleep already  
Make him a cradle  
of rose and jasmine.

Make him a bed  
On the lemon balm  
And at the head  
Put jasmine  
With its fragrance  
To put him to sleep for me.

Hush-a-bye my baby  
Hush-a-bye my sun  
Hush-a-bye oh piece  
of my heart.

This beautiful milk  
That I bring him here  
Is for this baby  
Who is going to sleep.

Hush-a-bye my baby  
Hush-a-bye my sun  
Hush-a-bye oh piece  
of my heart.

This lovely baby  
Wants to sleep  
He closes his eyes  
And opens them again.

Hush-a-bye my baby  
Hush-a-bye my sun  
Hush-a-bye oh piece  
of my heart.

**_Preview:_**

_She and Luffy had almost died several times now, and Dori couldn't help but feel her resolve wither, but one look at Luffy's hopeful face would always clear her doubts. She couldn't let Luffy go out on his own; someone had to keep it him out of trouble, even if it was starting to become more of a physical problem for her than anything. "Unn, Lu. Tomorrow we'll catch him for sure…"_

_They were all sprawled on top of each other in Ace's bedroom. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom as they had all cuddled up on top of Dori in their sleep, apparently Dori's Lullaby's were pretty affective in putting them all to sleep._

_"Hey Dori can you pass me the soap-" Sabo began asking before he choked on his spit, his face reddening as his flailing limbs caught the attention of the other two boys, Ace looked at her in shock while Luffy was confused as to what the big commotion was about. "You're a girl!" Sabo finally choked out._

_Dori tilted her head in false innocence and confusion, after all the boy's really should have realized by now. "I know, I was born this way." She informed them slowly as if talking to a pair of idiots, "Even Luffy could have told you that! Right Lu?"_

_"Unn, Nee-chan and I took baths together all the time in Fooshia Village… Hey Ace, Sabo why are you're faces so red?" Luffy asked innocently. 'Sometimes' Dori thought, 'I really love that boy.' _

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys! I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!**

**I've been really busy since I lasted updated! I've been having so much freaking homework lately that I haven't been able to even read for fun! Anyway if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" (it's an OHSHC fanfic… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck (basically expect new chapters between the 5 days before the end of the month please)… Also, please don't expect each chapter to be this long…I mean I'll try as long as I'm still able to post it at the end of the month without rushing… but please don't have high expectations! (o l l o)**

**Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… see you next month!**

**6,829 words**

**Fav/Follow/Review!**

_**Love,**_

_**Mara-Chan**_


	5. Chapter 5: Brothers? (Pt 1)

**_Chapter 5:_** _Brothers?_

Garp walked up behind them calmly all the while staring at the calm freckled face boy, "Luffy, Dori, this is Ace. He's older than you Luffy by 3 years. The both of you are going to be living here from now on."

Behind them she could here Dadan stand up in surprise and anger as Magra and Dogra exclaim in surprise, "Ehh! What! You can't just decide that!" Dadan screeched.

Luffy growled beside her, acting more like an offended dog than a ticked off human, staring up at the stone cold Ace, who glared right back. Dori was just glad that those cold-empty-eyes weren't being directed at her, she didn't want to face Ace… it would be like acing her inner most demon, and Dori wasn't positive that she could win.

Garp-Jiji bonked Luffy on the back of his head when he got close enough to hear the growls emanating from his throat, much to the surprise of the seven year old, "Be nice!" he barked.

"Has it already been decided!?" Dadan screamed frantically, she really didn't want to be in charge of Garp's grandchildren, after all what kind of monsters could they be to survive living with that man?

"Is it a problem?" Garp-Jiji turned his head away from Ace for the first time and glared furiously at the now extremely pale and complacent mountain bandits. Dori couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

"We'll take them!" they shouted stiffly in unison.

Garp looked happy as he called out, "Well that's all from me. I'll stop by when I have time." He was already turning away back to the mountain path leading to Fooshia Village.

"Umm, what about child support?" a nervous Magra questioned from behind her.

"Put it on my tab." Garp-Jiji told the man calmly not even taking the time to turn back and look at him.

"This is not a bar." Dadan mumbled.

"Huh?"

"You're always welcomed!" Dadan crowed out to Garp, reminiscent to the way Makino would always dismiss her faithful customers.

"Boss, we can't take care of two more kids!" Magra said concerned.

"Shut up! Let's just eat first! Fix it!" she snapped grouchily.

"Okay!"

Dori never turned her head away from the still furious Luffy, she looked up as Ace jumped off the massive kill that had served as his perch until then.

"Say 'sorry!'" he crowed as the boy walked right by the two of them, not bothering to acknowledge the pseudo siblings.

Dori crinkled her brow in worry; she didn't want Luffy to start a fight with the older boy. "Wait!" he screamed turning around brusquely while putting his straw hat roughly onto his head.

"Luffy?" she asked him concerned.

He smiled at her before he whipped the spit of his face with the back of his hand, "Come on nee-chan, let's follow him." He grabbed her hand as they entered the threshold of the bandits' house, Dori couldn't help but feel that Luffy's phrase was going to end up haunting her for a while.

They poked their heads in from behind the purple curtain-like door curiously at their new surroundings. Their new 'home' wasn't the most beautiful of places but it was fairly clean, the floor was made of hard wood and there was a large pot hanging down from the ceiling over a fire pit in the middle of the room, there were some scattered barrels and crates lining up against the walls but overall Dori felt as if it wasn't going to be an awful experience living in Mt. Corvo.

"Where did he go?" he asked absentmindedly as he confidently walked into the living area, all the while dragging the shorter girl behind him. Dori silently bristled at being dragged in by her little brother; it absolutely irked her that Luffy was taller by 2/3 inches than she was.

Silent as a ghost a man grabbed them from behind… a knife that curved upwards at the tip gleamed menacingly as it was brought up in front of her brother's neck. Dori felt her body become loose in the man's arms, her legs turned into jelly the moment that she had felt herself be brought against the back of an unknown male. "Who are you? Give me all your money or I'll kill the both of you." He whispered angrily as Luffy began to struggle in his grip.

"I don't have any! And neither does Dori!" Luffy said angrily, though there was a small tremor of fear in his voice.

"Then tell your parents to bring some money here!" another bandit growled from behind them.

"Jii-chan is our only-"

"That's fine. What's his name?" another faceless bandit asked.

"Garp-san." Dogra deadpanned as he lit up the once dark room.

"Ehh, these kids…" one of the bandit's exclaimed, as the three of them turned to Dogra for an explanation.

"They are going to live with us from now on." Dogra said blandly.

"WHAT!" bandits that Dori hadn't originally seen hidden leaped out form the shadows all screaming in surprise, "Why are they living here!?" "Why did you accept!?" "This isn't a daycare!" "Our boss has no guts!" the tandem of various voices attacked her ears.

"SHUT UP! All of you!" Dadan screamed, getting the attention of all of the bandits complaining in the room as she placed a giant platter of stocked up meat roughly on the floor. "It's time to eat!" she announced loudly, spit flying out of her mouth as she gestured wildly to the towering plate of food that was taller than she was.

The bandit that had been holding the two siblings hostage dropped them to the ground roughly as they rushed to the meat ravenously, pushing each other out of the way and fighting to get a piece of the tender cut of meat being served for dinner.

"Give it to me fool!" "It's my meat!" they all fought as they squabbled over the dish like a bunch of starving puppies.

Luffy exclaimed happily beside her, already standing up, "Ohhh! I want some meat!" he exclaimed excitedly as stars formed in his eyes, but before he could run up to get some of his favorite meal a bandit ran up behind him and used him as a spring board to reach the plate faster.

Every time he would try to get up another bandit would trample over his tiny body in a hurry to duke it out with their fellow bandits over a cut of meat, _'Barbarians.'_ Dari thought darkly as she covered her head with her arms, trying not to get stepped on by the selfish bandits.

"You already ate!" "I want more!" Two bandits fought, literally biting into the same cut of meat and trying to tug it in opposite directions as if they were animals. Dori crawled quietly underneath the two bandits and grabbed two pieces of meat and hiding it in her overalls before clearing out of the war zone and moving to sit by Dadan, she could see Luffy being held back by one of the bandits as others quickly cleared the plate of food in front of his eyes. Even the dog was able to quickly snatch a cut of the meat before Luffy was even able to reach the plate.

Luffy sat morosely beside her as he stared blandly at his bowl of rice, before he swallowed the entire thing in one gulp. "Another! Can I have some more, pops!?" he asked raising his bowl to Dadan as she took a huge bite out of her meat.

Dori choked on her water while staring at Luffy in disbelief, sure Dadan didn't have the prettiest mug in the entire world but she had some pretty large… breast, how Luffy couldn't tell Dadan was a woman was beyond her.

"I'm a woman!" she screamed at the little boy in righteous fury. "Do you even know where you are riht now!?"

"No."

"Then I'll tell you." She said as her face took an ominous shade, "The both of you are in the den of the Dadan family; we are the mountain bandits that rule Mt. Corvo."

"Mountain bandits? I hate mountain bandits!" he exclaimed still holding out his arm waiting for more food, Luffy was probably thinking about their run-in with those mountain bandits that caused Shanks to louse his arm. She had to agree with Luffy on that one, she hated mountain bandits as well.

Dadan stabbed her steak knife into the ground in front of Luffy, "Shut up you little shit! We're annoyed by having a kid like you! If you don't want to stay here, that's fine! Go ahead and die like a dog somewhere!" she screamed in his face, Dori could see a blood vessel in Dadan's forehead bulging as the woman's frustration only increased by Luffy's uncaring expression. Dori hid a grin. Luffy was very good at unintentionally pissing someone off, besides he seemed to have a natural talent for it.

"Easy, easy, boss." Magra stated calmly from behind Dadan while raising his hands up in the universal 'I surrender' form.

"I wanna eat more.." Luffy whined sadly while chewing on his chopsticks. He looked enviously at Ace, who was sitting at her other side, while he stuffed his face with a platter of meat in front of him. "I wanna have that meat too…" he drooled.

Dadan teasingly brought forward her meat to Luffy's face, but before he could take a bite out of it she snatched it away and took a huge bite out of it. "These are all from a bison that Ace brought. He gave us a cut of the take so everyone could eat. The mountain bandit's world is rough sailing. The both of you are gonna have to work pretty hard tomorrow!" She stared at the two siblings as she began to explain, "Cleaning, laundry, polishing shoes and weapons, burglary, robbery, fraud and murder!" she listed before she brought her face close to theirs, "Remember, you can't tell Garp what we make you do." She told them seriously, Dori was starting to get pissed off. "One bowl of rice and one cup of water per day! That's all I can guarantee you!"

Luffy's hat shadowed his face as Dadan continued talking, "You two gotta get everything else by yourselves and grow up on your own."

"Okay." Luffy said relaxed, Dori nodded in agreement as she finished off the small bowl of rice that Dadan had served her.

"'Okay?' Why don't you cry or something!?" she exclaimed angrily that her plan to scare the two siblings failed.

"I'm fine because Jii-chan threw me into a jungle once and there was water to drink and frogs, snakes and mushrooms to eat in the forest!" he explained happily. "Plus I'll be a pirate someday so…I must be strong like that!" he said determinedly. Dori smiled at his enthusiasm as the mountain bandits behind her rushed to the fainted Dadan who had lost consciousness after Luffy's declaration.

"Dadan-san." Dori said patiently, all of the bandits looked at her curiously, this was the first time she spoke since Garp-Jiji had left them to the bandits 'tender' care, "I don't care what you say… but if you try to force my little brother to do something he doesn't want to I'll snitch to Jiji and tell him you let the bandits violate us, k?" she asked mock cheerfully as she stood up to follow Luffy who had chased Ace outside of the bandits' hut. Dadan seemed to lose consciousness once more as the bandits began to scream in denial at the words the five-year-old-looking nine year old told them as she calmly turned away.

"Where are you two going?" Dadan screamed from behind her. "Did he just say 'pirate?' Were we just threatened by tiny little chibi? They aren't listening…" she said in shock.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Luffy screamed as he ran behind Ace, Dori sighed. She knew where this was headed, she quickly began to run behind Luffy as Ace finally stopped up ahead of them, "My name's Luffy and this is Dori! I'm not mad about you spitting on me anymore!" he cheered while waving his arms around like loon almost hitting Dori in the face much to her ire.

"It's nothing worth getting mad over! Let's become friends!" he shouted happily, not noticing Ace's expression begin to darken. "Are you going somewhere!?"

A giant crack filled the air as Ace began to furiously kick the tree that was beside him until it fell over and began to roll down the hill towards them.

Nervous sweat began to poor down her face as she raced to the foliage on the side of the path to get out of the way of the dangerous rolling tree, unfortunately she forgot that her little brother was an idiot and had left behind in the middle of the path. He screamed in fear and began to try and out race the speeding tree to the bottom of the hill.

"Luffy!" she screamed, fearing for his safety as she began to run after him.

She and Luffy had almost died several times now, and Dori couldn't help but feel her resolve to catch up to Ace begin wither, but one look at Luffy's hopeful face would always clear her doubts. She couldn't let Luffy go out on his own; someone had to keep him out of trouble, even if it was starting to become more of a physical problem for her than anything. "Unn, Lu. Tomorrow we'll catch him for sure…" she told him with false bravado.

They had finally found their way back to the mountain bandit's home after Ace had knocked her little brother down the ravine, of course Dori had flung herself after him seeing as there was a river canal at the bottom of the ravine and Luffy would have drowned if she hadn't been there to save him (it made her wonder how the hell he survived falling into the ravine in the manga since his devil fruit powers prevented him from swimming). After she had dragged their tired bodies to the bank of the river they had been chased by wolves at the valley until they had been able to climb their way back up, she had been really thankful that she had been carrying those two cuts of bison meat on her when Ace had tried to kill her brother, for the second time in one day, since it had proved to be an excellent distraction against the hungry pack.

Dadan had thrown the two exhausted children into Ace's bedroom after scolding them and informing them that they would be put to 'work' in the morning. Luffy had cuddled up into her side like he usually did when he needed to be comforted and reassure himself that he wasn't alone. Thankfully he had fallen asleep right after he'd been reassured by his sister allowing Dori to be able to fall into the deepest sleep she'd been able to experience in an entire week.

Luffy and Dori chased desperately after ace for two entire months, in rain or shine. And every time they went after Ace, the ten year old boy would nearly kill the siblings while trying to lose the two kids on his chosen trail, but it always ended the same way: they'd lose sight of Ace, he would then attempt double homicide, Mogra and Dogra-on Dadan's orders-save them and bring them back to the hut.

There was one incident in particular that still gave Dori nightmares….

It had been raining lightly, but it was still hard enough that visualtity wasn't clear. She held onto Luffy's hand with a death grip, not wanting to lose sight of him like they'd lost sight of Ace a couple of seconds ago.

"Damn! We lost him again Dori! He run's so fast!" he whined looking around for the freckled face boy.

They both turned their heads to the bushes at the same time when the sounds of branches breaking under pressure alerted them that someone was hiding there, Dori began to have a sinking feeling in her stomach, the sound of those footsteps were too heavy to have come from the nearly ghost steps that Ace was known for.

"Ace!? Is that you!?" he asked happily before the two siblings paled in fear. Dori saw her life flash before her eyes as she took in the huge-ginormous-tiger creeping out from behind the foliage after a lightning bolt illuminated the dark forest. It growled menacingly and Luffy dropped onto the ground in fear, not that she was handling the situation much better since she was paralyzed with fear.

Luffy whimpered, his hand still tightly holding on to hers. "I- I feel weak at the knees…" he stuttered out, his eyes not straying from the monstrous beast.

_'Snap out of it Dori!'_ she inwardly berated herself, _'Luffy needs you, hell you need yourself!'_

Dori gently pulled Luffy's limp body up to hers, being careful not to make any sudden movements. She heard the ground shift behind her, and Dori froze when the ginormous tiger roared angrily at the giant intruding bear challenging him. Dori took a deap breath in, deciding this would be the best chance she had at escaping with Luffy. She broke out into a sprint, at first she was dragging her little brother's numb form before he too began to run beside her frantically to get away from the two clashing titans. Unfortunately the siblings weren't paying much attention to the direction they were running and tripped on a log.

Panting the two siblings rolled onto their backs, eagle spread onto the wet ground, their racing hearts beginning to slow down, the tropical rain was finally stopping and the sun began to peak in between the leaves. The water droplets sparkled as the warm rays of light washed over them and a beautiful rainbow could be seen forming above the trees.

"Jejeje…"

Luffy looked at his sister's outbreak in confusion, "I- I can't believe we're still a-alive!" Dori stuttered out between hysterical giggles.

Luffy began laughing with her before they finally were able to sit up once more.

An entire month passed after the siblings encounter with the 'king of Mt. Corvo' before they had actually caught up to Ace.

Dori looked down at her muddy red rain boots, shielding her face from the sun. She loved her red bandana, she really did, but it didn't help shield her head from the harsh glares of the sun like Luffy's straw hat did. Her white undershirt stuck to her sweaty skin and her blue jean overalls shuffled with each step she took. Luffy panted beside her, he was wearing a black skull an' crossbones tank top, red jean shorts, that had the same white ruffles his pants in the future would have, and his plain brown flip flops. His hat shielded his face from the sun's rays, but she could make out the small scar under his left eye.

Leaning heavily on a walking stick, Dori practically dragged herself up the rest of the hill, the jungle was finally clearing. She looked at Luffy excited; they both broke out into grins as they discarded their walking sticks and raced up to the top.

"Wow…" Dori whispered in awe, looking at the wondrous sight of the massive junkyard, smoke-or was that mist-blanketed the piles upon piles of junk that covered the entire area.

"What is this place?" Luffy asked out loud, not really expecting and answer as he looked around. "Nee-chan, do you think that Ace is down there?"

"Hmm, probably Lu. Let's go find him!" she chirped extending her hand to her excited brother, after all it would take ages to find the younger boy if he got lost. He grabbed her hand as they made their way through the junk, jumping and sliding on top of objects while they continued their self-appointed quest to find the older boy.

**_Preview:_**

_They were all sprawled on top of each other in Ace's bedroom. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom as they had all cuddled up on top of Dori in their sleep, apparently Dori's Lullaby's were pretty affective in putting them all to sleep._

_"Hey Dori can you pass me the soap-" Sabo began asking before he choked on his spit, his face reddening as his flailing limbs caught the attention of the other two boys, Ace looked at her in shock while Luffy was confused as to what the big commotion was about. "You're a girl!" Sabo finally choked out._

_Dori tilted her head in false innocence and confusion, after all the boy's really should have realized by now. "I know, I was born this way." She informed them slowly as if talking to a pair of idiots, "Even Luffy could have told you that! Right Lu?"_

_"Unn, Nee-chan and I took baths together all the time in Fooshia Village… Hey Ace, Sabo why are you're faces so red?" Luffy asked innocently. 'Sometimes' Dori thought, 'I really love that boy.' _

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying Thanksgiving! I know I am!

So I had to split this chapter in three…. Yea…. It took me forever! Anyway if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…

Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month!

**3,339 words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	6. Thanksgiving Short (NotAnActualChapter)

**_~Thanksgiving Special~_**

Dori sighed; she just knew that the boys wouldn't get it. After all Ace and Sabo grew up in a harsh environment plus one clueless little brother that would follow their example thoughtlessly… yea her plans for thanksgiving failed before they even started, but she wasn't going to give up without a fight!

She nodded determinedly before making her way to the 'jumbo' garden she had accidentally discovered. The reason she endearingly called the patch of land that had an assortment of wild grown vegetables 'jumbo' was simple, the vegies were three times her size... and feeding the soon to be brothers wasn't a simple task with normal sized food, so the giant vegetables really helped alleviate the load.

"Nee-chan! Where are you going!?" Luffy shouted as he quickly ran up behind her.

Said older sister looked up at her slightly taller younger brother, "Hmm, to the garden. I'm on a mission." She whispered conspiratorially.

Luffy's eyes widened like saucers, "Really!"

"Shh! I don't want Ace and Sabo to find out it's a surprise!" she admonished him.

Luffy comically slapped his hands over his mouth before looking accusingly around as if the older boys would pop out from the foliage at any moment.

Dori giggled amused at his naïve reaction, "Do you want to help me, Lu?"

"Uh-huh!" Luffy mumbled excitedly.

"Okay! Perfect! This is what I need you to do…." Dori whispered her brilliant fool-proof plan to Luffy and handed him a list. The list had been created in mind of her slightly dim brother and the items on it were all pictures so he would be able to pick the right produces.

Dori quietly stalked her prey. It was a large animal, then again it seemed like every animal living on Mt. Corvo was four times its normal size, walking clumsily on its skinny legs. She had already been lucky enough to catch two other massive turkeys, which were now hidden above her in the high branches of the tree above her, but she knew that by catching this last turkey she would be insuring that everyone at the feast she was preparing was going to be stuffed_. _

_'Hmm, I have to stop by at the Party Bar and ask Makino to help me buy some pasta, ground pepper, parmesan cheese (if it even existed in this world) and bacon. Hmmm if I also want to make pan de jamon y maiz I need to buy flour, baking soda, corn, mozzarella cheese… I'm also going to need balsamic viniger and mustard seeds for the salad dressing … oh god… how much is it going to cost me?'_ Dori thought horrified as she snug her prize.

It had taken Dori about an hour to pluck all three of the turkeys and prepare them to be put in the oven. During that time Luffy had-surprisingly-brought all of the vegetables she had asked him to bring, so she had put to boil seven giant-car sized-potatoes, she had also put the pasta to boil as well while she dressed the turkeys. Dadan had been kind enough to lend her the entire kitchen after she had explained that she was preparing a special feast and that she wouldn't be needing her help to prepare it. Her only request had been to for Dadan to make sure that the entire house had been cleaned and that she hung up the decorations she had prepared in advance. Luffy was in charge of keeping the older boys from coming home before she finished prepping the food, besides, Dori had figured it was a good way of stopping Luffy from messing up her plans as well as make it a surprise for the seven year old too.

After she put the turkeys inside the massive oven; she drained the pasta and began to pour in the finely chopped fried onions and bacon that was mixed into the creamy parmesan sauce, putting the lid on top of the pot she shook the contents up/down and from side to side in order to make sure that all of the pasta was marinated in the sauce. Smiling at her well done job, she put the pot to the side so that there would be more room over the oven. A small timer on the counter 'dinged' chirpily, Dori pulled on her gloves and went to the second stove in the kitchen. She opened the oven and carefully pulled out a giant tray with three thick loaves of bread simmering on the foil, melted cheese oozed out of the breads teasingly, she placed it over a space on the counter before she pulled out the other tray of bread stuffed with cheese, ham, red and green peppers. Dori grabbed a couple of clean damp towels and covered up the loaves so that they wouldn't lose their heat before going back to the boiling potatoes and draining them from water. She brought out butter and a giant slab of cream cheese from inside the fridge and placed it on the counter. After mashing up the potatoes with the butter-salt-and cream cheese, she covered it up with the lid and checked on the turkeys.

She then began to chop up the lettuce finely before dumping them into the giant salad bowl, she cut the leftover mozzarella cheese into little squares and dropped them in the bowl before doing the same to some cherry tomatoes and croutons as well as pouring in generous amount of salad dressing.

An impressed whistle surprised Dori from behind her.

"Wow, chibi. This is a lot of food." Dadan praised as she looked at all of the delicious food prepared, or being prepared, in the kitchen.

Dori blushed bashfully, ignoring the slight against her height, "Unn, it's for a special feast after all!"

Dadan nodded good naturally before asking the question that had been plaguing her mind since the small nine year old commandeered her kitchen, "What kind of feast is this anyway, Dori?"

"Oh," Dori turned back to the oven to pull out one of the turkeys, "it's called Thanksgiving. It's a day that you spend surrounded by the people you love the most in the world and you give thanks for all of the good things in your life. For example, this year I'm thankful that I met the boys and that you and Jii-chan took me in!" she explained happily as she pulled out the other two golden turkeys.

Dadan blinked in surprise, "Alright, but what's with all the turkey and squash drawings?"

Dori giggled, she had drawn and colored in a bunch of 'hand-turkeys' and fall vegetables, "Well… in the first Thanksgiving that was ever celebrated, the people ate turkey, deer, fish and vegetables. I'll explain the entire story before dinner!"

"WOW! What smells so good!?"Luffy shouted excited.

"Hey, what happened to this place there are so many pictures of…. turkeys hanging on the walls!" Sabo asked confused.

"I don't know… but I bet Dori will explain it to us. Right, Dori?" Ace questioned her expectantly as she walked out from inside the kitchen.

Dori smiled at them before turning back to Dadan, "Can you make sure that no one touches the food? I made three pies that have to go in the oven but I really want to take a bath with the boys first so they don't dirty the floors."

Dadan nodded after taking a look at the filthy boys in the living area.

"Alright boys! We're taking a bath, and then we are going to have a feast!" Dori crowed as she pushed the protesting boys into them bathroom.

"That's it Dori! Tell us what's going on!?" Ace shouted aggravated by Dori's continuous response of secret.

Sabo nodded in agreement, "Yea Dori! No secrets are allowed!"

"Yea!" Luffy parroted.

Dori smiled at them mischievously before she called in all of the bandits to come into the living room where she had her brothers sitting down in front of her, after everyone had taken a seat, including Dadan, she explained the story of the first Thanksgiving.

"So…" Sabo began after she finished retelling the story, "We're eating s giant feast to celebrate gratefulness?" he asked confusedly.

"Yup!" Dori chirped, "Dylan and I always celebrated it with the kids in the foster home, since they always welcomed us like family… but you guys are my family now and it would only be right to celebrate it with you!"

Dori turned around and headed into the kitchen and picked up two of the trays with the steaming turkeys, "Alright, I'm going to bring all of the food out here, but you guys can't eat anything until I tell you to." She growled threateningly at the boys and the mountain bandits as a dark aura surrounded her.

Ace, Sabo and Luffy nodded rapidly in fear of their sister, while the mountain bandits froze horrified at the imposing figure the small girl made.

Dadan stood up and began to help her bring the enormous amount of food she'd prepared into the room; after everything was laid out Dori had everyone pick up a plate and line up in front of her. She piled up everyone's plates with the same amount of food, so that no arguments would break out. The entire meal was a jubilant affair with everyone asking for seconds and complimenting the chef. After the entire kitchen was cleaned up and the four siblings were laying upstairs in their bed, Luffy cuddled up into his older sister adoringly.

"Nee-chan?" he asked as Sabo and Ace began to shift towards them.

"Yea Lu?" she whispered tiredly as she ran her hands through his soft black hair.

"Nee-chan you said that Thanksgiving is a day where you say what you're thankful for, right?" Luffy continued after Dori nodded in affirmation, "What are you thankful for?"

Dori could feel Ace and Sabo's eyes burning into her as she stilled her ministrations on Luffy's hair momentarily before continuing once more, "Isn't it obvious Lu? I'm thankful for my new family." She admitted before kissing the crown of his head, "That means you guys too, Ace, Sabo. Thank you for being my brothers!" She told them happily before she untangled herself from Luffy to pull the shocked boys into a hug, she kissed both of the red boys on the cheek before she plopped backwards tiredly on the bed. "Night!"

All of them were silent for a moment before Luffy whispered again, "Nee-chan? Ace, Sabo?"

"Yea." They whispered back.

"I'm thankful too. I'm happy that we're not lonely anymore and that you guys are my family too!" he told them proudly.

Dori giggled lovingly as Ace and Sabo whispered harshly out of embarrassment, "Shut up Luffy!"

Luffy pouted, "Aren't you guys thankful that we're together too?"

"Yea Ace, Sabo? Aren't you thankful?" Dori teased.

Ace wrapped his arms around her as Sabo did the same to Luffy so that the youngest of the quartet were surrounded by the older boys, "Of course we are dummies." Ace mumbled into her back.

"We're glad you guys barged into our lives!" Sabo whispered in affirmation.

Dori began to drift off, content in the arms of her family. "Ace, Sabo, Luffy… I love you." She mumbled adoringly barely noticing when the arms surrounding her pulled her closer.

**Author's Note: I hope you have enjoyed this short! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!**

**This chapter is dedicated to: ****Tsukino Aisuru - A****; since she's reviewed twice already! Once more, thank you for reviewing [bows respectfully]. **

**1,883 words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Love, Mara-chan (o l l o)**


	7. Chapter 7: Brothers? (Pt 2)

**_Chapter 6:_** _Brothers? (pt 2)_

"Ace! Where ar- ahh!" Luffy fell off of a pile of junk, having landed on an unbalanced piece of trash, Dori landed beside him roughly on the ground, "What's that?" he asked, while rubbing his sore head. Dori looked at the human skull a couple of feet away from where Luffy was sitting and paled.

"Th-that's nothing Lu, come on let's keep looking!" she told him urgently pulling him back up to his feet before calling out after Ace.

The two siblings continued to thoroughly search-"Ace! Hey!? Where did you go!?" "ACE! Where are you!?"-the terminal, in other words Luffy continuously poked his head into trash and Dori-much to her ire-had to 'get him un-stuck.'

"Thief!" Dori looked towards where all the noise was coming from; an ugly bald man was running away from the angry voices… the only problem was that he was headed right towards them.

"Gaki's!" he growled, "Get out of my way or I'll…" he pointed at them with a knife menacingly, Dori thought he looked like an uglier, more deformed version of Hunchback from Notre dame. Luffy tilted his head to the side cutely as Dori silently tugged him closer to her side.

"He went that way!" the man nervously looked back at the direction he was running from and glared at the two small children briefly before running away in fear. Dori and Luffy watched him run away before they looked at each other and shrugged and continued their search for the ever evasive Ace.

They passed by uncaring inhabitants of the terminal searching for discarded treasures until they reached the tree line of the jungle once more.

"Ah!" Luffy pointed excitedly at the retreating figure carrying a brown sack under one arm and lead pipe in his right hand making his way stealthily back into the jungle before he tugged on the sides of his straw hat and giggled triumphantly. Dori smiled as they raced after Ace, after all it had to be him, and she hadn't seen any other children in the terminal… besides what were the chances of another kid wearing the same grey elbow guard, bright red tank top and dark maroon shorts that Ace had put on before he left the bandits home that morning.

They hid behind some bushes, more like Dori pushed Luffy behind some bushes and told him to shut his trap, when they saw Ace climb up a tall tree and sit happily next to a curly blond haired boy who had a smaller brown sack next to him as well. Dori observed the new boy interestedly, _'So this is Sabo…'_ she pondered while looking at him. He was as tall as Ace and was wearing a dark blue collared turn coat that reminded her of the fancy jackets musicians would wear to a concert over a black tank top that had a single light blue streak on it, he had a weird white handkerchief(?) with a bunch of tears in it wrapped around his neck. He wore electric blue shorts that ended just above his knees and black boots that had small heels-she dubbed them pirate boots in her head-and a black worn top hat on his head that had blue framed goggles going around it, his lead pipe leaned on the massive trunk of the moss covered tree. She couldn't see his eye color from where she was hiding but she noted that he was missing one of his front tooth's… or was it chipped? She couldn't tell.

"Pirates! You guys! Are you going to be pirates!? I'm going to be one too!" Luffy screamed loudly while waving his arms around excitedly from right underneath the branch the two older boys were sitting in. _'Wait Luffy?'_ Dori's eyes widened as she looked at the now empty spot beside her and the seven year old being glared at by Ace and Sabo angrily, _'Fuck Luffy! Why can't you ever sit still and shut your mouth!'_ she bemoaned to herself.

The older boys looked at each other shocked and nodded determinedly before they climbed down the tree quickly, looking more like bugs than humans, and ran up to her idiot little brother who was still smiling happily at them.

"Be quiet!" they screamed in unison before hitting Luffy on the top of his head really hard, causing the seven year old to fall on his back.

"If he's here, that means that the other one can't be too far behind…" Ace said looking around. Dori sighed in defeat before walking out from behind the foliage raising her hands up in defeat.

"I'm here…" she whispered disappointedly, the two boys came up to her, most likely intending to subdue her like they had done to Luffy, "Ah, wait! Don't touch me there's something I have to do first…" she said while giving the stink eye to Luffy who was trying to sit up while rubbing his throbbing head. She walked up behind her brother and bonked on the same spot Sabo and Ace had hit his previously. "You idiot!" she hissed angrily at her brother who was once more laying eagle spread on the ground.

"Ace I didn't know you traveled this far every day!" Luffy said chipper, he had a wide smile on his face. On the other hand Dori was contemplating mass homicide from where she was tied to the tree next to him and had a dark scowl on her face, being tied up brought ugly memories up and she hated feeling like she wasn't in control.

"Shut up!" Ace snapped at him while leaning on his pipe. "Can't you be quite like your brother?" he said while pointing to Dori, said 'brothers' eyebrow twitched angrily, she literally shared a room with Ace and Luffy, how had he not realized yet that Dori was in fact female was beyond her…

"Is this the Luffy and Dori that you were talking about?" Sabo asked with his arms crossed on his chest and his pipe in his right hand.

Luffy perked up immediately "Ehh, you've told him about me and Dori?" he asked happily, definitely not picking up on the distaste in Sabo's tone like she had.

"I told him how annoying you are." Ace deadpanned.

"He also told me how you're empty-headed and that you're younger brother always has to save you." Sabo added, Luffy's smile didn't lessen and burst out laughing. _'Younger brother?'_ Dori scowled even more, she was not anyone's _little_ anything, but she didn't say a word to correct them.

"Oh really?"

"You don't realize that we're dissing you, do you?" Sabo asked disbelievingly. Dori felt for him, Luffy was… well Luffy.

"They finally caught up, even though I didn't take any walkable roots." Ace told Sabo frustrated.

"Are you a friend of Ace's? Be our friend too buddy!" Luffy exclaimed to Sabo ignoring Dori's remark over how she didn't want to anyone's friend.

"Shut up! You can't call me buddy!" Sabo snapped thumping his pipe next to him as his left hand rested on his hip.

"Then what's your name?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Sa- I'm not telling you!" Sabo screeched after he realized that he was giving himself away, Dori smirked amusedly… too bad she already knew his name, not that he knew that. Ace glared at her questioningly, she answered with another smirk.

"This is why I told you to live here with me!" Sabo told Ace exasperated from having to deal with Luffy, "The daily round trip, training on the mountain road turned out to be bad! What should we do?" he asked Ace.

Dori petulantly responded, "You could untie us."

"They found out our secret. Luffy, especially, is going to tell somebody if nothing is done. His own brother can't control him." He sneered ignoring Dori completely, "We should kill them."

"Alright let's do it." Sabo agreed.

Luffy seemed to finally realize the predicament they were in and paled dramatically, "What!? Don't kill me! Help me! I don't want to die!" Luffy sobbed loudly in panic, his legs flailed hysterically. Ace and Sabo exchanged panicked looks as Luffy made more noise.

Sabo lunged at Luffy and grabbed his jaw, trying to silence the crying seven year old, "Shut up, you fool!"

"Sabo kill him already!" Ace snapped.

"What!? You do it!" Sabo snapped back panicked.

"I've never killed anybody before!" he shouted back at Sabo, just as panicked.

"Well you certainly tried to kill us multiple times!" Dori screamed at Ace angrily.

"Me, neither! And I don't know how!" Sabo shouted at Ace ignoring Dori.

"Don't throw me in water!" Luffy screamed hyperventilating as tears and snot ran down his face.

"You IDIOT!" Dori screamed panicked that the two ten year olds would actually throw her little brother in water.

"Okay! Let's head to the river!" Ace exclaimed relieved.

"Why did he tell us that!?" Sabo asked Ace only for Dori to answer him angrily.

"It's because he's an idiot!" Dori groused.

"Help me!" Luffy continued to sob while flailing his limbs.

"SHUT UP!" the three of them screamed.

Luffy, surprisingly, was silent for moment before he began screaming again, "I don't want to die!"

"Neither do I!" Dori screamed back at him.

"I hear a voice in the forest! A kid's voice!" a gruff voice shouted as an entire group of men began to enter the forest.

"Oh no, somebody's coming…" Sabo whispered nervously as he looked behind them.

"Set them free for now! We gotta move from here or they'll find our treasure!" Ace whispered back hurriedly as Sabo pulled out a switch knife from his cat pocket.

A relieved smile graced Luffy's face as they were let loose from the tree, Dori glared at them angrily as they quickly ducked under some bushes, "All you care about is your stupid treasure!" she hissed at Ace from where she was crouched next to him as the voices of the intruding men got closer.

"If captain Bluejam finds out about this he'll kill us all." A deep voice groused to the small group of men, he was an ugly tall muscular man with lavender locks that went down mid back, he was extremely pale and had pointed teeth that gleamed in the sun light. And despite the fact that she knew she'd never seen him before in her life, he looked like someone she knew, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Damn it! I didn't know that those thugs were working for Bluejam!" Ace whispered anxiously.

"You mean you stole your money from them?" Sabo whispered back furiously.

"I shouldn't have taken that money…"

"He has a real sword. That's Porchemy, he works under Bluejam. He's crazy, did you know that? He strips of your scalp after you lose a fight with him." he explained to Ace lowly. Dori gripped on the straps of her overalls, this was dangerous she did not want her little brother to be caught by the massive man like he was originally in the manga.

"Let's just let them pass for now…" Ace whispered back as the three of them carefully began to hide under the foliage.

"Oh? Where'd he go?" Sabo whispered confused. Dori looked up at the pirates in horror as Luffy's small body was raised off the ground into the air by Porchemy.

"Let me go! What do you want from me!?" Luffy flailed, not being able to dislodge himself from the big man's grip.

"How could he get caught!?" Ace and Sabo whispered simultaneously in shock.

"Let me go you bastard!" Luffy screamed angrily.

"Who is this little shit?" Porchemy asked curiously, not at all deterred by the glaring child.

"Help me! Ace!" Luffy screamed. "Help me Ace! DORI! Save me! ACE!"

"That fool! He's calling my name!" Ace whispered panicked, as the three of them ducked their heads even more.

"Help me Ace!" he continued screaming.

"Did you just call for Ace?" Porchemy asked, glaring menacingly as he brought Luffy closer to his face.

"So what?" Luffy glared back.

"You, do you know Ace?" he asked.

"I'm his friend!" Luffy said confidently, "Oh, but he did just try to kill me." He admitted sheepishly.

"That fool! He has such a big mouth!" Ace groaned.

Dori bit her lip in fear. She knew what her little brother would go through if she didn't do anything, but she also didn't want to rat out the two ten year olds beside her… Luffy would never forgive her if she did. Dori heard Porchemy begin to explain why they were looking for Ace, as the idiot had stolen money from them and they-naturally-wanted it back, they asked Luffy if he knew where it was only to have the seven year old give them the worst lying face ever and tell them he didn't know while whistling 'nonchalantly'. She slapped her face exasperated before squared her back in determination and began to crawl away to another bush far away from where Ace and Sabo were currently panicking, she then ran out from the bushes and began to hit Porchemy's leg angrily.

"Let him go! Let my brother go!" she screamed angrily as she hit him furiously.

Porchemy looked down at her angrily, before reaching down and grabbing her with the same hand holding Luffy and grabbing her.

"Dori!" Luffy exclaimed surprised that his nee-chan was now in the same predicament he was. Dori glared at him briefly before locking her angry eyes with Porchemy.

"Ah, another one. What about you? Do you know where the treasure is?" he growled.

Dori glared at him, "Why the hell would we know where your blasted treasure is? I just want you to let go of my little brother so we can go home!" she screamed, lying much better than Luffy could ever dream of doing.

Porchemy glared even more before chuckling darkly, "Alright, alright! It can't be helped that you two don't know." he said mockingly as he brought his ginormous sword behind him. "Don't worry I'll help you remember." He growled, smiling creepily at them.

Dori felt all of the adrenalin that had been running through her dissipate. She remembered now, she knew who he looked like. It was a face that she had been trying to forget since she arrived to the One Piece universe. He was _identical_ to _Demon Eye_, the main tormentor that would beat her and Dylan when they were in the captivity of the Akuma Avu~enjā. She paled in fear and became lost her memories, her body went limp in Porchemy's grip and her previously determined yet fear filled eyes went blank until she looked dead, and her breathing slowed down significantly.

"Let us go you bastard! Put us down! Help! Save us Ace! Let us go you bastard!" Luffy screamed as Porchemy began the trek to his base

"Dori?" Luffy questioned concerned they were entering an ugly run-don shack when he noticed that his sister hadn't spoken at all on the way there. "Dori nee-chan are you okay?" he asked uselessly as he tried to shake his sister out of what he believed to be a daydream, when he failed to get a response out of her he began screaming angrily at Porchemy, "What did you DO! What did you do to my SISTER!"

"Ha, nothing yet brat." He snapped, "Sister? I thought she was a boy…" he smirked evilly, "That changes things."

Luffy glared at Porchemy as he was tied to a wood pillar, "Let us go! I won't tell you anything!"

Porchemy glared at Luffy angrily as he lifted a mallet bigger than he was precariously into the air, "You little shit!" he growled as he brought it down on Luffy's head.

Dori had been shackled standing up to the wall, but she just hung their limply her head rolling to the side. She looked-and felt-like she was dead.

The mallet bounced off of Luffy's head after a moment, "I told you that my body turned to rubber after I ate the Gum-Gum fruit!" he groused.

The men standing behind him were flailing about in panic before Porchemy told them to "Shut up! A Devil Fruit, ehh?" he pondered before chuckling, "Looks like you had a real one. Get me a pair of gloves." He instructed the men behind him.

"Ye-yes sir!"

They hung Luffy from the roof, he was five feet off the ground, and the entire time he looked at his sister in concern. Porchemy noticed where his concerned looks were shooting off to and smirked; he unshackled the girl from the wall but left the cuffs on her wrists and tied her limp body behind Luffy's with more rope.

"Listen, you little shit. The money that your friend Ace stole is very important to our pirate crew." He explained as he finished putting on his spiked gloves before roughly putting his left hand on Luffy's head, "And you know where it is. So I need you to tell us where it is." He said bringing up his balled right hand up to Luffy's face.

Luffy breathed in, "NO!"

Porchemy let Luffy and Dori swing backwards while he brought his right hand back and let it swing into Luffy's face as they swung forward towards him.

Blood flew from his cheek, his feet dangled from side to side from the force of the hit. "See you don't want to make a pirate mad. Our Captain Bluejam is very brutal!" Porchemy snarled.

Blood dripped down on the side of Luffy's face as tears began to accumulate In his eyes and his lower lip wobbled… then he sobbed hysterically, he flailed his limbs as if possessed, causing the limp Dori tied behind him to move erratically with him, while screaming "Ahhh! It HUURTTSS! I'm SCARED! Help us!"

Porchemy brought his right fist back and let it fly again, he struck Luffy once more, "Guys, go look for Ace and Sabo! We don't have time to stand around!" Porchemy instructed the horrified thugs behind him.

He brought his other fist back and punched Dori when the rope swung to reveal her tied to Luffy's back; she made no sound to indicate that she'd even been struck as the rope swung once more to reveal Luffy. Porchemy continued to hit the sibling alternatively as if they were a punching bag. He only stopped to ask if they felt like disclosing the whereabouts of the treasure. Luffy had stopped screaming from the pain he was receiving and hung limply much like his sister, the sun was setting, casting a golden shadow to befall the room. The rope holding up the sibling creaked with the strain of each hit.

Porchemy was drenched in sweat and panted tiredly, "Spit it out already!"

"P-P-P-P-Porchemy-san! It's no use doing it anymore!" one of the thugs stuttered out, he had been shielding his eyes from the gruesome sight of the tortured children for a while now and couldn't bear looking or hearing it go on any longer now, "The black-haired boy doesn't even have the energy to scream and more! And the girl looks even deader than before!"

Silent sobs and whimpers spilled out of Luffy's clenched jaw. Porchemy panted from the strain of having beaten them for hour's non-stop, "I bet they won't say anything and to be honest, I can't stand watching it-it-it's too cruel! Show some mercy!" the same thug continued.

Porchemy punched the now fallen thug in the face, "Look for Ace and Sabo if you have time to be worried for these gakis!" he growled out, "We're the ones that are in danger of death! Can't you see!? We're already too late to give that money to Captain Bluejam!" Porchemy turned back to the dangling children and began to beat them once more.

"Tell me where they are! Answer me!" he growled in Dori's face. Her lifeless hazel-green eyes locked with Porchemy's for the first time since he picked her up in the jungle.

"Dyl? Dylan? Why? WHY!?" she began screaming hysterically for the first time since her beating started, she snapped, "Ahhhhhhhhhh-" she screamed hysterically as tears streamed down her face, before her scream was cut off by another hit. She went silent once more, mumbling her twins name nonstop.

"You! Boy! Tell me!" he growled.

"I- I won't say!" he stuttered painfully.

"You little shit! Stop trying to keep a secret like a grown up!" he stopped beating them for a moment and he leaned heavily on his knees, before looking at them angrily, "Say IT!" he screamed.

"I- I won't say it! I won't say it! I won't say it!" He cried, tears streaming down his face began to fall to the ground, glistening as the sun's last ray's trickled over them. "I won't say it!"

Porchemy growled in frustration before he turned around, "Fine. Enough." He threw his spiked gloves to the ground and dragged his sword towards them. Luffy weakly lifted his head in pain to see the menacing man lift his sword.

"Then you die." He growled.

_'NO! Not another one I can't lose another one!' _Dori thought hysterically.

"ME!" screamed, "KILL ME! Let him GO! Let him GO!" she sobbed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh-" she screamed as the sword swung.

The walls of the hut shattered as two lead pipes broke through the weak wooden walls. Dust billowed around the new entrance as the two ten year old boys screamed in anger. Dori and Luffy weakly looked at them in surprise.

"DON'T!" the boy's screamed in unison, raising their pipes into a fighting stance.

**_Preview:_**

_They were all sprawled on top of each other in Ace's bedroom. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom as they had all cuddled up on top of Dori in their sleep, apparently Dori's Lullaby's were pretty affective in putting them all to sleep._

_"Hey Dori can you pass me the soap-" Sabo began asking before he choked on his spit, his face reddening as his flailing limbs caught the attention of the other two boys, Ace looked at her in shock while Luffy was confused as to what the big commotion was about. "You're a girl!" Sabo finally choked out._

_Dori tilted her head in false innocence and confusion, after all the boy's really should have realized by now. "I know, I was born this way." She informed them slowly as if talking to a pair of idiots, "Even Luffy could have told you that! Right Lu?"_

_"Unn, Nee-chan and I took baths together all the time in Fooshia Village… Hey Ace, Sabo why are you're faces so red?" Luffy asked innocently. 'Sometimes' Dori thought, 'I really love that boy.' _

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying the Holidays! I know I am!

So remember this is the chapter I had to split in three…. Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…

**This Chapter is Dedicated to: **Tsukino Aisuru - A and KiraReaper for reviewing! As well as to all of those people who have Favorited and/or Followed! (There too many people to list!)

Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month!

**3,952 words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	8. Christmas Special (NotAnActualChapter)

**_~Christmas Special~_**

~8 years later in an unnamed bar in the Grandline.~

A lone figure sat on a bar stool as travelers from all across the seas sat in the bar drinking and laughing whilst having the time of their lives. The person in question stood out from the usual crowd this bar was known for… he or she was wearing a black cloak that covered their figure completely, disguising the persons' gender, not only was this person small, but this person seemed to be quietly contemplating the menu in utter silence.

"Um, Excuse me?" a brave barmaid questioned.

"Hai?" the soft voice that emitted from the depths of the black cloak surprised the barmaid, having expected the mysterious person to be a short man and not a woman.

"Are y-you ready to order?" she asked, trying to remain professional.

"Hmm," she murmured, "I'd like to have the lamb with potatoes and rice. Can I have sake while I wait?" she asked courteously.

"Hai! Right away!" The barmaid said chirpily after writing down the order and sending it to the kitchen; she quickly grabbed a sake cup and poured the alcohol gracefully.

"Ah, thank you." The woman told her before she knocked the entire thing back.

_Despite the fact that Dylan and Dorian's family life, barring themselves of course, wasn't very healthy they were firm believers that Christmas was a family orientated holiday and that it was a day that was meant to be spent with their closest friends and family members (just them as they don't actually consider themselves to be related to their parents). _

_They had decorated their house on the first day of December and had been waiting anxiously for the 24__th__ of December to arrive since then. There was a giant tree in the living room of their apartment decorated with a bunch of ornaments that Dorian had insisted needed to be placed in a systematic order, much to the ire and amusement of her twin brother. They also had an enormous traditional nativity scene leaning against the entire wall, they had meticulously taken the time to recreate mountains and pastures as well as small homes and barns for the tiny shepherds in their tiny version of Bethlehem. _

The barmaid looked at the small figure in front of her in surprise, that was their strongest brew sake but the woman in front of her had downed it like it was nothing.

"Can I have more please?" the woman asked lifting the sake cup in her direction.

"Ha-Hai!" she nervously poured more alcohol into the dish before moving back to watch as the woman once more threw her head back to down the liquor.

_They had painted a flat wooden surface midnight blue and sprinkled little stars in its abyss, they created a landscape in its background to simulate that there was more land that could be seen in their nativity. They had covered the ground surrounding the nativity with mulch and porcelain sheep, cows and donkeys were scattered on its surface 'munching' on the 'fresh grass'._

_ In the center of it all was a beautiful woman laying on some hay by an (currently) empty manger her expression was peaceful and loving, a man that looked a lot like the shepherds in the fields was kneeling beside her looking at the manger in awe and love. A worn looking donkey was laying close by on some hay and there were cows tied to a fence close by. There was a crippled little lamb that the twins were in love with, since it reminded of them of an old Christmas movie called the "Little Lamb," that was laying peacefully by the manger. The three kings were close by, but hadn't reached the manger just yet and they wouldn't be there until midnight that night when Baby Jesus was born and also placed on the manger._

"More." The woman said plainly holding out her dish once more the stunned barmaid.

The barmaid didn't say anything but pore more sake for the expecting woman, she was beginning to suspect that the woman was younger that her 28 years of age just based on the sad youthful pitch of her voice so she couldn't help but gape at how fluidly she drank the strong liquor.

"Another." The dish was in her face once more, the barmaid bit the inside of her cheek to prevent the sigh from escaping from her lips. It was truly a sad day to see someone so young (at least she was assuming the woman was) drink their troubles away.

_"Dori!" Dylan whined from the living couch, "Hurry up~"_

_The thirteen year old was wearing a comfortable black suit without his jacket, his candy cane colored tie was slightly disheveled from his bad posture as he laid completely at the couch. His silky hair was pulled away from his face by a red plastic headband and his hazel-green eyes were glued to his Nintendo DS as he played the fast speed game of Mario Cart. It was 4:15 PM, and he and Dori were supposed to get to the orphanage in fifteen minutes so that they could walk to the church with the nuns and their orphaned friends, but Dori was taking too long to get dressed. He thanked his 'lucky stars' that they had already dropped off their instruments at the orphanage the day before, at least they wouldn't have to carry two cuatros, violin and a viola through the cold December air._

_"Shit…" Dylan cursed in frustration as he lost… again. Throwing the DS on the couch angrily he sat up, "Seriously Ria how long does it take for you to put on a dress!" he called out to her._

_"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist baby bro!" she snapped playfully at him as she walked out of their bedroom hurriedly. _

"Another, please."

The barmaid went cross eyed as she tried to look at the sake dish, this time she couldn't hold in the sigh and asked the woman in front of her what she desperately wanted to know, "D-Don't you think yo-you've had enough? You've already drank four cups… and this isn't ordinary sake, the brew is much stron-"

"I know. I could feel the burn." She emotionlessly, "Another."

"H-Hai.." she poured her another drink.

_Her knee length white dress flowed around her gracefully, there was a cute red bow tied around her waist and she had a candy cane hair clip pulling her bangs from her face, her white wool stockings covered her legs. She was wearing candy cane earrings and a Christmas themed charm bracelet that Dylan had given her last Christmas, in her arms she was holding a white jacket before she dumped it on the couch and put her hands on her hips._

_"Dyl, have you even checked on the bread in the oven?" she asked frustrated, pursing her lip gloss covered lips before going into the kitchen herself to check on the baking bread, "I mean honestly! You want us to leave, right? So shouldn't you at least start taking the bread out of the oven and putting it into the container so that we can go?" she ranted as she pulled out the piping hot loaves._

_Dylan sheepishly entered the kitchen and helped her put the sealed container with the bread into the bag, "Sorry, sorry…. You look pretty Nee-chan." He admitted to her lovingly earning a soft smile in return._

_"Thank you."_

This time when the stranger knocked back her drink the black hood covering her face fell off, revealing the beautiful young woman hiding underneath it. She couldn't be older than 19 years old, but here she was… in a bar drinking sake like it would all be gone tomorrow.

"Clementine! The lamb is done!" the cook, Jericho, called.

"Coming!" she called back to him before looking at the miserable woman in front of her, "I'll be right back with your order in a minu-"

"Wait! O-One more." She demanded holding up her cup.

_They had finally made it to the orphanage and had given Sister Honda the baked bread for the Christmas feast that would begin after mass…_

_The Christmas mass could be described perfectly with two distinct phrases: beautifully orchestrated and dreadfully long/boring. As usual (at least for only this mass) it was an hour and a half long… mostly because of all of the lengthy songs the choir sang; so by the time it was finally over and the church-goers were free to enjoy the rest of the evening with their close friends and families, the twins as well as their friends were starving._

_"Mou~ I'm so hungry!" Haruta-chan moaned as her stomach gurgled furiously at the lack of food resting in her belly; her beautiful wavy black hair was pinned up by a hair clip that glistened every time light reflected off of its shiny surface, the-surpirsingly-tall girl's baby blue dress swished hypnotically with every step she took. Haruta Seiko became one of the twins closest friends after she was orphaned when she was ten years old, the twins had become her rock (considering that they had been classmates before the car accident took her parents life) and she had never felt any form of judgement when she opened up to them._

_"Hahaha! You're always hungry, Haru-chin!" Dylan teased playfully as he poked her belly, "Honestly I don't know how you've managed to stay so thin despite the fact that every time you eat you stuff your face as if it's the last time you'll ever eat again…."_

_"Ahh! Dyl-kun's being mean again! Dori-chan save me!" she simpered while hiding behind the shorter girl as she tattletaled on the boy._

_Dorian smiled before she masked her face in false anger and indignation, "Bad Dylan!" she wacked her younger twin lightly on the nose with a rolled up pamphlet, "No being mean to my Haru-chin!" she scolded._

_Dylan pouted, "Nee-chan! You're supposed to be on my side!" he whined in despair as Haruta stuck her tounge out in victory behind Dorian's back, much to the ire of said girl's younger brother._

Clementine, otherwise known as the bar maid, observed the reserved-sullen-teen picking at the plate of food in front of her. The mysterious woman-no teen- as she had been calling her in her head, was beautiful in an exotic way. Working in a bar by the pier allowed her to meet new people every day, no traveler was similar. She had met people with blue, red and even green hair before; she had met people with orange, yellow and grey eyes… hell she even met a fishman before! But Clementine had never met someone with hazel-green eye's before, green eyes-no matter the shade-were an anomaly and were extremely rare, making the teen's eyes even more unique and beautiful. On top of that the teen seemed to have a natural creamy olive tan skin tone that would make any sane woman envious, her lips were full and plump and her button nose curved slightly upwards. Her hair was free and ringlets of dark curls fell gracefully around her face.

She watched as the teen scrunched up her nose in distaste when a stray curl once more fell into her eyes and obscured her vision, the teens hands disappeared under her cloak and brought out a red bandanna and tied it around her head-pushing back any hair from her face-in a practiced motion that suggested the bandanna was most likely part of her regular outfit… Clementine couldn't help but feel it belonged there on her head.

_Dorian looked around the crowded living room in content, dinner had ended a short while ago and now that she had eaten her Christmas feast Dorian couldn't help but feel rejuvenated. All of the kids that lived in Saint Teresa's orphanage, plus herself and her twin brother as well as the nuns, were playing and relaxing together as the festivities continued._

_"Dori-chan." An aged, but warm voice washed over her lovingly. Sister Lucia was a kindhearted old woman who had devoted her entire life into running and maintaining the orphanage, and when she had found out the lack of real parental figures in the twins life (especially after their beloved nanny was sent away) she had stepped in and welcomed them into her fold without hesitation._

_"Hai?" Dorian questioned her curiously._

_"I was wondering dear if you and Dyl-kun could play some Christmas carols, it's about time this party becomes more festive don't you think?" she asked with a playful wink causing the thirteen year old to smile at her actions._

_"Hmm, I have to agree with you there Sister." Dorian said as she nodded her head in mock seriousness as she stood up and went to grab her cuatro as well as Dylan's. "Dylan!" she called the boy who was sitting with a couple of younger kids-who practically worshiped the ground he walked on, much to her amusement since despite his friendly attitude he wasn't the most patient person in the universe-as he regaled them a tale of the day Santa's elves saved Christmas, when her brother looked up she lifted up his case in the air. "Why don't you come over here so we can sing some carols! After all it's not Christmas unless there is music!" she said playfully as some of the kids cheered happily._

_Dylan smiled crookedly, "On my way nee-chan!"_

Clementine continued to observe the beautiful teen slowly eating her meal as she cleaned up an empty table close by to where she was seated at the bar. The teen seemed to be lost in her own mind and her actions (eating) seemed to be automatic, the sad-nostalgic expression clouding her face let her know that whatever she seemed to be dwelling on had to be painful for the girl to remember.

"Ano?" the sweet voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Ah, yes!?" Clementine chirruped as she moved quickly to the teen's side, all the while carefully balancing a stack of dirty dishes in her arms, "Is there something you need?" she asked courteously.

The teen's facial expression seemed to soften somewhat, "Hai… do you have any red wine? It was my brother's favorite…." She trailed off sadly.

Clementine felt as if she'd been punched in the gut, _was,_ she said it _was_ her brother's favorite drink. While Clementine was no stranger to death, hell no one was considering that she lived in the Grandline, but it was always surprising and saddening to learn of the deaths of people that were so young.

_"__Campana sobre campana,  
y sobre campana una,  
asómate a la ventana,  
verás el Niño en la cuna._

_Belén, campanas de Belén,  
que los ángeles tocan  
qué nueva me traéis?_

_Recogido tu rebaño  
a dónde vas pastorcillo?  
Voy a llevar al portal  
requesón, manteca y vino._

_Belén, campanas de Belén,  
que los ángeles tocan  
qué nuevas me traéis?_

_Campana sobre campana,  
y sobre campana dos,  
asómate a esa ventana,  
porque ha naciendo Dios._

_Belén, campanas de Belén,  
que los ángeles tocan  
qué nueva me traéis?_

_Campana sobre campana,  
y sobre campana tres,  
en una Cruz a esta hora,  
el Niño va a padecer._

_Belén, campanas de Belén,  
que los ángeles tocan  
qué nueva me traéis?_

_Navidad, Navidad_

_Navidad, Navidad  
Hoy es Navidad.  
Con campanas este día  
Hay que festejar  
Navidad, Navidad  
Porque ya nació  
ayer noche, Nochebuena,  
El niñito Dios…."_

_Dorian and Dylan both lingured on the last note of the song as their audiance began cheering merrily at the foreign carol._

_"__Hehe! More! More!" Kikiyo, a small black haired five year old, chirped excitedly as she let go of Youko's, a brown haired six year old that was her best friend in the orphanage, hands._

_"__Yea! Please sing another!" Ryuuji, a normally quite seven year old, begged loudly as he laughed merrily._

_"__Hmm, I don't know?" Dylan teased as he rubbed his chin in thought, "What do you think Ria? Should we sing another song, this has already been our tenth song?" he asked her 'seriously.'_

_"__Ahhh…. I don't know Dyl…" Dorian played a long as a chorus of disappointed groans came from the younger kids who didn't realize they were just joking._

_"__Mou!" Haruta groaned, "Just play another song! I was enjoying myself!" she whined as if she was a five year old as she gestured to Yuki, her current dance partner._

_Dylan and Dorian exchanged amused glances before sighing simultaneously, "Hai, Hai… Just as Haru-hime desires it so~" they sighed in unison, causing said hime to blush at their actions as the other kids laughed joyously_

_"__Venid, pastorcitos,  
venid a adorar  
al Rey de los cielos  
que ha nacido ya._

_Arre borriquito,  
vamos a Belén  
a ver a la Virgen  
y al niño también._

_Rústico techo  
abrigo le da,  
por cuna un pesebre  
por templo un portal._

_Arre borriquito,  
vamos a Belén  
que mañana es fiesta  
y al otro también._

_Esta noche con la luna  
y mañana con el sol  
a Belén caminaremos  
a ver pronto al Niño Dios._

_Vamos, pastores, vamos,  
vamos a Belén,  
a ver a ese Niño  
las glorias del Edén..."_

The teens seemingly blank gaze watched her every move carefully as Clementine poured her a glass of red wine in front of her.

"Do you believe in hope?" the teen asked suddenly, startling Clementine with her question.

"Umm… what?" was her intelligent comeback.

"Do you believe that everyone should hold onto hope and faith… that whatever we're fighting for will come true?" she asked seriously in low tone.

Clementine blinked in surprise, "Well… I-I think that I do… After all if I didn't have hope or fate I'm positive I wouldn't be where I am."

"Hmmm." The teen nodded her head sluggishly as she took a sip of the rich wine, "Sometimes I think its bullshit. Life and Fate… well they are major bitches." The teen stated calmly, "A normal person struggles and fights constantly against the hand they've been dished, but often…. It's never enough." She said morosely, "I guess that's why I keep tryin' huh?" she snorted, looking up at Clementine for the first time since she asked the question, "If I give up now I'll have nothing really worth living for."

The teen smiled bitterly as she lifted her glass, "To idiot little brothers who've left me behind for greener pastures, and to stupid older brothers conquering the seas without me."

_The cab ride home was a quick one, the twins were exhausted from the festivities and couldn't wait to curl up in bed and sleep off the rest of their sugar induced crash. The keys jingled loudly in the otherwise silent hallway as Dorian struggled to open the apartment door. _

_"Finally, Ria. I thought you'd never open the door…" Dylan whined tiredly as they stumbled inside._

_Dorian sniffed as she shed her coat and hanged on the rack next to the door, "Shut up Dyl… I didn't see you doing anything helpful…."_

_Dylan smirked in false arrogance as he carried a bag of leftover food to the kitchen, "That's what you think Ria, but you weren't the one carrying all of the food were you?"_

_Dorian smiled at him, "Hmm, that is true…" she conceded playfully as they put away the containers filled with their delicious Christmas meal. She looked up at the watch hanging on the wall, it was 1:47 in the morning, she groaned slightly and rubbed her forehead tiredly, "Dyl, let's just go to sleep." She commanded him as she went to the bathroom._

_Said younger twin looked up at the clock to see the time for himself and winced, "Yea... let's just go to sleep…" he agreed as he pulled of his tie and moved to their shared bedroom._

Clementine stared at the morose teen in slight shock before she poured her some more wine.

"Thank you." The teen said gratefully.

"Wh-What's your name? If y-you don't mind me asking…" Clementine stuttered out curiously.

The teen blinked at her in surprise before she giggled softly, "Dorian. Monkey D. Dorian, but you can call me Dori." She said smiling softly at her causing Clementine to gasp slightly under her breath.

The teen, or rather Dori as she introduced herself, had a radiant smile that made her look even younger-and more innocent, she looked alive-than she probably was. In her mind, Clementine decided that Dori was the type of person that should always smile.

_When Dorian got out of the bathroom Dylan was already in his candy cane PJ's that matched her similar candy cane night gown, he was sitting in the middle of their king-sized bed and was looking at her expectantly. On his lap he had a bottle of red wine and two plastic champagne glasses._

_Dorian's eyebrow raised, "I thought we were just going to bed Dyl?"_

_"I know, I know…. But just half a glass okay, Ria? It's Christmas!" he said enthusiastically causing Dorian to let out an amused snort._

_"You are thirteen Dyl… you shouldn't even know what wine-alcohol-tastes like…. Much less have a favorite drink of choice!" she teased before a mischievous grin took over her face as she jumped up next to him, "Pour me my cup peasant!" _

_Dylan laughed, "Hai, hai! Anything for my esteemed mistress!" he said playfully as he poured their drinks and placed the glass bottle on their nightstand, "To another successful Christmas and the extreme awesomeness of twins!" he crowed causing Dorian to let out a series of snorts and giggles. _

_"To us!" Dorian cheered as they 'clinked' their plastic cups merrily, before they downed the sweet alcohol…._

_"Ria?" Dylan whispered softly as Dorian snuggled contently into his side._

_"Yea…" she said groggily as sleep began to tug at her senses._

_"I love you, nee-chan." He confessed quietly causing Dorian to hug the boy tighter._

_"Hmm, I love you too otouto." She mumbled into his ear before kissing his cheek, "Now though… go to sleep!" she said playfully causing him to laugh softly._

_"Kay… Nee-chan?" he questioned._

_"What?"_

_"Merry Christmas!" he chirped sleepily. Dorian smiled against her will and responded…._

"Merry Christmas Dyl." The teen whispered as she pulled up her cloaks hood once more and made her way to the docks. "Merry Christmas Ace, Luffy, Sabo…." She said to the night sky as she thought of her three other reckless brothers.

**Author's Note:**

**Hey! MERRY CHRISTMAS! (And to those who aren't Catholic… HAPPY HOLIDAYS!)**

**Well I hope you've enjoyed this short… I know it was a little depressing but…yea… I don't really know where that came from. I mean I planned from the beginning that the Christmas Special was going to show Dori and Dyl before they were kidnapped, this was essentially their last normal Christmas since they were kidnapped that spring (just after they turned fourteen) and were in captivity for a little over a year, but it was supposed to be fluffy… this was also her first time celebrating Christmas alone since she's supposed to be 17 years old here, so she's theoretically just set sail from Fooshia Village, and she doesn't have Ace, Luffy or (possibly, don't know if I'm changing that yet) Sabo with her to celebrate… **

**Anyway I hope that the fact that this is a ****_Christmas_**** Special doesn't offend anybody…. I'm Roman Catholic, but my religion won't be impacting the fic in any way (other than maybe her dislike/aversion for killing people)…. I made it so that the orphanage that Dori and Dyl liked to frequent was a Church run one so the kids at least had somebody to turn to when they felt lost, I also made it that their nursemaid/nanny/'abuela'-like-figure that I mentioned (at least I think I did) was also Catholic so going to church reminded them of her. The reason I did this is because most Venezuelans (the twins are half Venezuelan on their mom's side) are Roman Catholic, and religion usually plays a huge role in our lives (my cousins, the lucky bastards, get an entire week off during the spring, in addition to spring break, to celebrate 'el festival de la Chinita'… this is a religious holiday, during the year if there is any church related events, everyone gets a day off), since the twins nursemaid was also from Venezuela I made it so that she instilled religion as an important factor in their lives early on, so much that it still sorta affects her even after she experienced the ugly part of humanity…. But not to worry it's not really going to play a huge role in this fic I promise! I hope that explains that… Anyway I hope that you guys enjoy you're holidays and your break!**

**There will be another Christmas special though coming up in the 10****th**** chapter though… since by that time winter would have caught up with my story and Dori will be introducing it to the boys, get ready for a bunch of cute little fluff!**

**_Disclaimer:_****_I do not own any of the Christmas songs! The songs are "Campana Sobre Campana" and "A la Nanita Nana" if you are curious about them, and you can watch them on YouTube if you want to know how they sound!_**

**See you next month!**

**3,724 Words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Love Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	9. Chapter 9: Brothers? (pt 3)

**_Chapter 7:_** _Brothers? (pt. 3)_

"DON'T!" the boy's screamed in unison, raising their pipes into a fighting stance.

"Otta my way!" Ace shouted as he banged his pipe over one of the thugs head, instantly batting him away as he made his way to Porchemy.

"It's him, Porchemy-san!" one of the wilder looking thugs screamed recognizing the freckled face boy.

"He stole the money from us! Damn you!" shouted the thug that had been trying to convince Porchemy to let the two dangling children go.

"A-Ace!" Luffy sobbed in relief, snot and tears running down his face.

"Ahhhhh!" cried the ten year old boy as he lifted the pipe above his head and jumped trying to hit Porchemy over the head like he had done to the previous thug he'd defeated.

"You made it easier for us by coming here voluntarily." Porchemy growled, grabbing Ace by his sensitive throat and squeezing it threateningly. Ace wrapped his legs over the giant arm connected to the hand choking the air from his lungs, he tried to pry open the fingers clamping over his neck with his left hand as his other hand gripped his lead pipe tightly. "We were having a really hard time making your friends talk." He sneered.

"Ace!" Luffy screamed in concern.

"L-Let me go!" Ace choked out struggling to breath. "Sabo!"

The top-hat wearing boy jumped up behind Porchemy and wacked him on his head with a battle cry of his own. Porchemy let go of Ace in surprise of the unexpected attack against the back of his skull, and the freckled face boy landed on the ground harshly as took in huge gulps of the air that was previously being denied to him.

"Porchemy-san!" the thugs screamed out in surprise and anger.

Ace struggled to get back up on his feet while Sabo's grip on his pipe tightened, his battle stance not wavering. "Ace, Sabo!" Luffy cried out, happy to know the elder blonds name at last.

"That kind of hurts. Hey! Do you know what happens when you mess with adults!?" Porchemy growled at the small blond who had the audacity to attack him.

"I'll fight you! Sabo, help them!" Ace challenged, finally standing up steadily as he held his lead pipe threateningly.

"Ace!" Luffy cried looking at Ace's back in concern and fear, Sabo nodded at Ace's command.

"He has a sword! Be careful!" Sabo warned Ace as he ran to let down the two younger kids.

Ace let out another battle cry as he charged the big pirate. Porchemy swung his sword only for Ace to use it as a jumping 'stone' onto the man's back, Ace quickly flipped off his back and blocked another wild swing of Porchemy's giant sword. Porchemy gasped in surprise that the boy could keep up with his strength and speed.

Sabo ran in-between the thugs and disarmed the one with a curved a knife, he held the small blade in contempt and smirked at them angrily.

"Ahh! P-Porchemy-san! That kid…!" screamed one of the thugs trying to warn the pirate, Porchemy turned to look at Sabo as the blond swiped at the rope hanging from the ceiling and caught the beaten children in his arms.

"Let's go, Ace!" he screamed as he began to run towards the giant hole they had created earlier, before stopping when he realized that the other boy wasn't following him.

"Go ahead." Ace said calmly not turning away from his opponent.

"You fool! Hurry up!" Sabo screamed in panic as sweat ran down his face, wanting Ace to follow him out so that they could find cover to recuperate, his arms were already aching from the strain of carrying the-fidgeting-younger children despite the fact that they didn't weigh as much as he had originally believed they would.

"Dylan…" Dori whispered in hazy pain, only to earn a concerned glance from Sabo.

When I come to face someone, I won't run!" Ace responded stubbornly.

"What you say!? You little shit!" Porchemy howled in frustration.

"Don't do it! He's not like the thugs in the city!" Sabo turned around to look at his friend trying to convince him to stop fighting with Porchemy and find shelter.

"You got that right." Porchemy sneered before looking down at Ace, "Alright! Enough playing around! That's our money. Give it back to us peacefully, gaki! You must have been possessed by some evil spirit, right? Give the money back so you won't regret it."

Ace changed the way he held onto his pipe and sneered back at the older man and wacked away Porchemy's sword when he used it to point at him. "We have better plans for that money!"

"Wh-What did you say!?" Porchemy growled.

"Wait here a minute!" Sabo told a limp Luffy and Dori before he dropped them on the ground to help Ace fight off the thugs.

"You're so reckless! Why are you always like this!?" Sabo asked Ace furiously not taking his eyes off of the thugs that were now flanking Porchemy.

"I won't run!" Ace answered.

"Stop talking crap!" Porchemy groused while lifting his sword up to strike at the two boys, he swung his sword down fast and Ace jumped to the challenge trying to block it with his pipe…. it was cut in two; Ace landed swiftly on his feet as a small cut appeared on his forehead and began to bleed.

"If I'm beaten by kids, I may as well quite being a pirate!" Porchemy smirked amusedly at the boys, not believing in the least that they would win against him.

"We'll make sure to make you quit!" Ace and Sabo screamed as they attacked Porchemy together.

"I'm going to kill all of you!" was Porchemy's furious response.

Luffy lifted his head and watched the fight in awe, Ace and Sabo were so- so strong. They were people that he could look up to, he looked to the side at where his sister lay face down in the dirt. She hadn't even tried to move her face to the side to breathe better… he could hear her quietly chanting his name. Dylan. He didn't know who Dylan was, but she often had nightmares where she would quietly call out his name and wake up sobbing quietly for him. Luffy didn't know whether or not he hated Dylan, as he seemed to make his sister cry so much, since his sister seemed to really love him. It hurt to see her that way, so broken… Ace kind of reminded him of her; they had the same eyes, lonely and something else that Luffy couldn't identify. Luffy looked up as another harsh clang of pipe hitting sword….

Luffy's relieved sobs filled the otherwise silent night. The sun had finally set and the full moon was above them shining ethereal beams of sweet moonlight down at them.

Ace sat calmly on the left side of the small dried out canal as he wrapped a bandage around his broken pipe, trying to fix the weapon that had been by his side for so long.

"You have a bad habit, Ace! When faced with a real pirate it's best to run! Why do you have such a death wish?" Sabo asked concerned and frustrated to his longtime friend, he leaned on the bank looking up at Ace, his arms were once more crossed over his chest and his pipe was still gripped tightly in his right hand.

Ace ignored Sabo's question and Luffy's sobs completely as he inspected the pipe in his hand. "This doesn't feel right. I like the one I had…" Ace mumbled not paying attention.

Sabo sighed resigned to Ace's bullheadedness, "We made a stupid mistake. The Bluejam Pirates won't forgive us for this… They'll come after us." Sabo said worriedly.

Dori stared blankly at the floor from her perch on a rock next to the crying Luffy, she had her arms wrapped tightly around her thin scar covered legs and her chin rested on her knees. Her bandanna had thankfully survived the torture session that Porchemy dished out, but her overalls were full of tares. She was angry, not at Luffy or at Ace and Sabo, but at herself. She froze, no worse. She had retreated into herself after she saw Porchemy's face, just because he looked and sounded similar to- to Demon Eye. She had failed Luffy as his older sister just like she had failed Dylan.

And what's worse, Luffy knew. He knew now that she wasn't as strong as he had thought she was. She was just a broken little girl trying to catch a ghost. Tears began to well up in her eyes. She didn't dare to look up.

"Oh, that was s-scary! I th-thought I was going to die! It really hu-hurt! Do-Dori was acting like she already did! And I- I was so scared!" Luffy cried.

"Ahhh!" Ace screamed frustrated jumping down from his perch, "You're so annoying! Shut up! Stop crying already! I don't like cowards or people who cry a lot!"

Luffy immediately stopped crying, biting his lip he tried to will his tears away. Ace and Sabo blinked in surprise and looked at each other in shock when the little boy stopped crying.

"Tha-thank you." Luffy bowed his head in gratitude at the two older boys, "You- you saved us!" he cried out as he began to sob once more, much to Ace's ire.

"You-!" Ace shouted annoyed as he tried to launch himself at Luffy, only to be stopped by Sabo.

"Woah, Ace! He's just being thankful!" Sabo said calmly.

"Why didn't you cough it up in the first place? Both of you!?" he asked frustrated. "They're the kind of people who will kill women or children without hesitation!"

"I thought that if I said anything…" Luffy confessed timidly as he began to run out of tears, his hat shielded his eyes from looking up at the angry boy, "you wouldn't be my friend."

Ace pointed at the boy angrily, "It's better than dying, isn't it? Why do you wanna be my friend that much!?"

"Because.." Luffy said brokenly.

"Didn't I give the both of you a hard time until now? How could you two follow me this far?" Ace asked.

Luffy's right fist clenched on his lap, "Because… because we don't have anybody else we can trust! We can't go back to Fooshia village… it's not like we were even well like to begin with… and we don't like the mountain bandits! If we didn't follow you.. we'd be all alone! Being lonely is more painful than being hurt!" Luffy screamed.

Ace's accusing hand fell to his side, "Don't you have each other?" He asked pointing to Dori and back to Luffy, "How can you be lonely when you have each other!?"

Dori let out a choked sob, all three of the boys looked at her alarmed… she hadn't made a sound nor moved in a while, Sabo had begun to think that she had fallen asleep despite the screaming match that was taking place. "I- I'm broken!" she confessed, "Some-sometimes I get lost in my head, remembering things that won't leave me alone! And when tha-that happens I forget who I am and who Lu-Luffy is! All I can do is remember! Luffy always says that it's okay, but it's not! It's not! And I don't want him to suf-suffer because of me!" she sobbed brokenly before continuing, looking up at them for the first time since she started talking, "You-you make him happy! He'll never be al-alone with you two! He won't be for-forgotten!"

Ace and Sabo looked at the pseudo siblings in surprise; Luffy's fist was clenched so tight that they could hear his knuckles cracking, he wasn't looking at anyone again and his hat shielded his face. Dori continued to sob into her overall pants, but more quietly compared to when the 'dam broke,' and refused to look at her little brother and the two older boys as she bared out her failures for them to see.

"Where are your parents?" Ace asked looking at Luffy, as Dori wouldn't be able to answer any more questions until she stopped crying.

"Dori and Jii-chan are all I have." Luffy responded looking up at Ace once more.

Ace lowered his head so that his bangs shadowed his face, "Is it easier for you when I'm around?"

"Uh-huh." Luffy answered while nodding his head.

Dori sniffled and looked up at him and nodded, "Unn."

"Is it hard without me?"

"Uh-huh."

"Unn."

"Do you want me to live?" he asked quietly, Dori couldn't see his face but she saw how his hand clenched his pipe harshly as if expecting to be rejected, and he was, she assumed remembering what she knew about his past. It reminded Dori of her own situation, after all she and Dylan weren't supposed to exist.

"Of course I do!" Luffy screamed affronted.

Dori looked at him, "Everyone… everyone was born for a reason. A gift, a treasure. Every life is a treasure. So yea, Ace I want you to live." She said quietly, remembering the words a nun at the orphanage she and Dylan used to hang out at told her on the twins tenth birthday.

"I see." Ace turned around before continuing, his head still slightly bent so Dori couldn't see his reaction, "But I still don't like spoiled kids like you two." He said conversationally as he scratched his head nonchalantly.

Luffy jumped off his perch on the rock, "I'm not spoiled! I'm strong!" he rebutted, whining slightly.

"Strong!? You're not strong at all! You cry like a girl!" Ace shouted turning around to fight Luffy.

Dori huffed, what was wrong with being a girl? She was tempted to interrupt their argument to start a new one arguing over how girls could do everything and anything boys could, just better… but Dori could feel the wariness from the day rest on her shoulders. She was tired. Dori sighed, she must have had gotten lost in her daydreams again because all of the boys had already stopped arguing and were looking, even Sabo who had been quiet until that moment, at her.

She scratched her head with her right hand and laughed nervously, "Wha-what I miss?"

Sabo looked at her in concern, "This is what you meant by blanking out huh?"

Dori blushed embarrassed before jumping down and landing beside him, "Sorry." she whispered.

He smiled at her gently before shaking his head, "It's not your fault, anyway we were talking about how I live to close to the Pirate Cove-"

"Uh-huh! He could get killed in his sleep, Dori!" Luffy interrupted.

"Shut up, baka!" Ace bonked him on the head.

Before an argument could start Sabo intervened, "Yea, anyway we were trying to think of a solution…"

Dori woke up the next morning to the sound of stifled gasps at the door of their shared bedroom, she groaned mentally, cursing the fact that she was such a light sleeper and kept her eyes closed shut in protest.

"Why are they wounded? And all bandaged up?" Dogra asked as he looked at his charges. Pochi, the white dog that belonged to the bandits sniffed them in confusion.

Mogra blinked in surprise and exclaimed when he caught sight of Sabo sleeping peacefully on top of Dori, "Who- who is that!?"

"Whoa, boss! Boss, boss! We have a problem!" Mogra shouted. Dori heard, much to her ire as any plan of going back to sleep was dashed with the bandit's course of action, more than saw Mogra and Dogra run out of their room to go get Dadan.

They were all sprawled on top of each other in Ace's bedroom. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom as they had all cuddled up on top of Dori in their sleep, apparently Dori's Lullaby's were pretty affective in putting them all to sleep, despite the fact that it was 'girly' she sung them to sleep at Luffy's request. Sabo and Ace had been surprised that she actually had a pretty good singing voice, despite the fact that it was slightly scratchy due to all of the screaming and crying she had done.

"Hmm, it's still early… What's wrong?" Dadan asked grouchily as she made her way to their bedroom. "Whoa! What's going on here!?" she asked looking at all of the injuries that her charges had sustained the day before. "1, 2, 3… Huh? 1, 2, 3… Huh? Ace, Luffy, Dori… Huh? Ace, Luffy, Dori… Huh? Ace, Luffy, Dori… Huh? Ace, Luffy, Dori… Huh? Ace, Luffy, Dori… Huh?" She counted in disbelief every time that she saw the extra pair of legs that belonged to Sabo.

Dori blearily rubbed her eyes as she heard Dadan begin to count and name the number of heads sleeping together on the futon for what seemed to be at least the fifteenth time before Dadan began screaming in confusion and frustration, "Ahh! Ace! Luffy! Dori! Who is that!?"

"Please, no more talking." Dori complained covering her eyes.

Luffy sat up in confusion, "Who is who?" he asked sleepily before cuddling up in her side once more.

"It's still too early—You're too loud!" Ace complained sitting up to look balefully at her before plopping down at her other side to hug her leg again.

Sabo sleepily looked up at them before lying back down on top of her and cuddling with her and rubbing his cheek sleepily on her tummy.

"How come there is another gaki here!? Who the hell are you!?" Dadan demanded, looking at the blond sleeping on top of, what she believes to be, her youngest charge.

"Ugh, are you talking about me?" Sabo asked drowsily as he stood up, Dori whimpered at the loss of his warmth before she pulled Luffy on top of her to cuddle with. "I'm Sabo. Hey, you must be Dadan!"

"Sabo? I've heard that name before!" She exclaimed while walking up to the small, compared to her, blond.

"Oh yeah? That makes it easier! Thank you for taking care of me from today!" he said cheerfully while shaking her hand.

Dadan slapped his hand away, "'Taking care?' Don't tell me that you're gonna stay here…"

Sabo farted loudly with a smile on his face.

"Don't answer me with a fart!" Dadan screamed in his face.

"Hehehe…" Sabo laughed nervously before farting again.

"You must be kidding! I heard that you're one hell of a brat, too!" Dadan shouted frustrated.

"Oh, yea? I heard that you're a worthless old hag, too!" Sabo 'complimented' her cheerfully before farting again. All of the bandits that had gathered to see what the commotion was about face vaulted backwards.

"That's unnecessary information!" Dadan screamed while pointing her finger angrily at him, "I don't wanna look after one more gaki!"

"But I heard that you're a good worthless old hag because you can't refuse a request! I heard that you're a man amongst men, for a worthless old hag!" Sabo continued on cheerfully, ignoring what Dadan had already said, before looking at her expectantly. Dori giggled silently at Dadan's predicament, she and the other two boys had already gotten up, the noise not allowing them to fall back to sleep.

"'Man amongst men?' I'm a woman! I'm not a gender bender!" Dadan said affronted, Sabo laughed cheerfully as he and Dadan had a stare down. Dadan sighed sadly in defeat, "Ace! Luffy, Dori! Sabo! I'm giving you a place to stay! You gotta get to work already!"

"Thank you, Dadan!" Sabo cheered before they all exchanged mischievous glances and ran out of the house.

"See ya!" all four of them crowed as they ran to the tree line.

"Hey Luffy, Dori! You two stay here and do some laundry and clean the house!" Dadan screeched after them.

"NO WAY!" Luffy replied, stopping his jog to turn around and stick out his tongue and pull the lid down of right eye mockingly. Dori laughed and waved her hand not turning around to acknowledge the curly haired woman. "Oh! Ace, Sabo! Dori! Wait for me!" he screamed turning around to catch up with them again.

"Oh, yeah!" Sabo exclaimed stopping, causing a carless Luffy to run into him and fall on the ground comically, Dori and Ace stopped running to see what Sabo was going to say curiously, before turning around, "I forgot to tell them. Hey Dadan! While were gone the Bluejam Pirates might come by, so be careful!"

Dadan's and Mogra's jaws hung open in shock.

"The Bluejam pirates might come by? Why?" Dogra asked.

"Because we beat up some of his crew! Bye!" Sabo shouted back cheerfully as they all turned around and began running again.

All three of the bandit's jaws hung loose in surprise before they all screamed comically "WHAT!?" at their retreating backs, causing Dori to giggle at their misfortune.

"Dadan sure is an understanding worthless old hag." Sabo commented as they ran.

"She's still a worthless old hag." Ace said looking at Sabo.

"Plus she's a mountain bandit and her face is scary!" Luffy piped in, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

Dori Laughed merrily, "You guys are mean!" she teased, "Dadan can't help being who she is!"

"What are we going to do now?" Sabo asked.

"First…" Ace started before he was cut off by Luffy.

"We eat something!" he yelled happily.

Ace sighed while Dori and Sabo laughed, "Alright! Let's eat!" Sabo agreed…

Ace and Sabo sat peacefully around a small campfire by a murky blue lake munching away on their catch. Luffy crawled on all fours salivating at the sight of the giant-as in bigger than a great white kind of giant-fish that the older boys had smoked to perfection. Dori sat patiently by Ace waiting for him to give her the 'okay' to grab a bit of the left over fish that the two ten year olds had already practically finished on their own.

"Luffy, so you ate a devil fruit, huh?" Sabo asked, his mouth full of the delicious smelling fish.

"Uh-huh!" Luffy agreed.

"No wonder you can't swim. Here you can have this piece." Sabo said as he tossed him the fish's tail, Dori gulped and licked her lips. Ace had given her a couple of pieces of the fish when he thought no one had been looking but she was still hungry, while she didn't have the same appetite as the three boy's she was still human and needed nourishment in order to survive, over the 3-4 or so months that she had arrived in the On Piece universe she had had steady meals that helped put her back on track and gain some much needed weight on her bones.

"You're too kind Sabo." Ace grouched. Dori hid a smile behind her hand, she wasn't going to give the older boy up that he was also 'soft.'

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Sabo asked rhetorically turning away from them to look at Luffy and ask him more questions. As soon as Sabo had his back turned, Ace offered the last piece of fish he'd been chewing, Dori flashed him a bright smile and began to eat ignoring Ace's embarrassed grumbles of 'annoying little chibis' in favor of eating.

"So, what fruit did you eat?" Sabo asked Luffy curiously.

"Gum-Gum!" he chirped happily.

"Gum-Gum!? Gum?" Sabo asked confused and then surprised when Luffy swallowed the entire fish tail in one bit.

"That's right!" Luffy responded while whipping his mouth clean with his arm.

Ace began picking his teeth clean with a fish bone, "In exchange for the ability to swim, your body turned to rubber? How crappy!" Ace smirked.

"It's not crappy! I can use a lot of unbeatable attacks!" Luffy snapped angrily. Sabo's inquisitive dark blue eyes locked with Dori's, she shook her head slightly at his silent question so that Ace and Luffy wouldn't notice their silent conversation.

"That's good. Good for you." Ace said patronizingly flopping onto his back and then moving onto his side, his head rested on his right hand as he turned away from Luffy to look at the lake, "You have such a fat mouth for someone who can't catch a fish."

Dori giggled and moved away from the boys and sat by the water's edge. She and Dylan had always loved to swim, it was around the middle of August she believed, so the summer was already ending and winter was coming soon. While she loved summer, honestly she did, winter was her favorite season. Drinking hot chocolate by a fireplace and listening to Christmas carols on a nice snowy afternoon always put her in a good mood. Christmas, Dori wondered if the people in this universe even celebrated the holiday… probably not.

Looking at the lake (or was it a river?) she smiled happily, her favorite Christmas carol popped in her head.

_"__La virgen se está peinando  
Entre cortina y cortina  
Sus cabellos son de oro  
Y el peine de plata fina_

_Pero mira como beben los peces en el río  
Pero mira como beben por ver a dios nacido  
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber  
Los peces en el río por ver a dios nacer_

_Pero mira como beben los peces en el río  
Pero mira como beben por ver a dios nacido  
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber  
Los peces en el río por ver a dios nacer_

_La virgen lava pañales  
Y los tiende en el romero  
Los pajarillos cantando  
Y el romero floreciendo_

_Pero mira como beben los peces en el río  
Pero mira como beben por ver a dios nacido  
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber  
Los peces en el río por ver a dios nacer_

_La virgen se está lavando  
Con un poco de jabón  
Se le han pintado las manos  
Manos de mi corazón_

_Pero mira como beben los peces en el río  
Pero mira como beben por ver a dios nacido  
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber  
Los peces en el río por ver a dios nacer…"_

Dori sang quietly in peace as she stared at the glittering surface of the water and the occasional splash of fish coming close to the surface of the lake… that is until the peaceful scenery was disrupted, Dori looked up in surprise as a blown up Luffy hurled by her with a giant splash into the mouth of an alligator, the two boys ran by her with battle cries to get Luffy back. She really needed to start paying attention…

The moment that the four of them had arrived back at the mountain bandit's home-after checking out Ace and Sabo's old 'old pirate savings' hiding spot and the Grey Terminal to see if Bluejam's men were actively looking for them which they were… leading to the decision that all four of them needed to lay low for a while until the Bluejam captain simmered down-after being gawked at since they were carrying, well the boys were since she decided to sit on the creatures belly instead, a giant alligator back for dinner, the four of them were thrown into the bath by an angry Dadan who didn't want their muddy footprints to destroy her clean house.

The three boys shrugged before striping from their torn clothes, Dori hesitated for a moment. She didn't really mind bathing with the boys, since she always took baths with Dylan and now currently Luffy, but she didn't really want them asking her about the scars that littered her skin. Luffy looked at her and smiled reassuringly. She flashed him a small smile and ripped off her t-shirt and overalls before dumping a bucket of warm water over head.

"Hey Dori can you pass me the soap-" Sabo began asking before he choked on his spit, his face reddening as his flailing limbs caught the attention of the other two boys, Ace looked at her in shock while Luffy was confused as to what the big commotion was about. "You're a girl!" Sabo finally choked out.

Dori tilted her head in false innocence and confusion, after all the boy's really should have realized by now. "I know, I was born this way." She informed them slowly as if talking to a pair of idiots, "Even Luffy could have told you that! Right Lu?"

"Unn, Nee-chan and I took baths together all the time in Fooshia Village… Hey Ace, Sabo why are you're faces so red?" Luffy asked innocently. _'Sometimes'_ Dori thought amusedly, _'I really love that boy.'_

"Yea, guys? What's wrong?" she continued to ask innocently.

Ace and Sabo were both bright red by now; Dori looked at Luffy and shrugged. She passed the bar of soap to a statue stiff Sabo and sat down on the little stool, "Sit in front of me Lu so I can wash your hair." She told the younger boy who happily skipped over and sat in front of her.

She began to hum 'Splish, splash I was taking a Bath,' as she rubbed her fingers delicately through Luffy's hair, only stopping to pull out an odd twig or leaf from his tangled mane.

She and Luffy looked up when a choked sound escaped from Ace's lips. Dori looked at the older boy in concern, "Ace? Are you okay? Honest to god, I thought you guys already knew by now that I was girl…" she trailed off seeing as both of the older boys seemed to be in shock at the moment.

"Gi-girl.." Ace stuttered.

"Hai, girl." Luffy stated looking at Ace strangely. "So what? So what if nee-chan's a girl, she's still Dori." He told them wisely.

Sabo nodded, "That's true… wait did you say Nee-chan! I thought Dori was younger than you Luffy!" Sabo screamed in surprise.

Dori pouted cutely, "Just because I'm short doesn't mean that I'm younger than any of you!" she whined, "I'm just a year younger than you guys! I'm nine-" she stressed.

Ace and Sabo looked at her surprised, before Ace softly asked her, "Dori.. where did you get all of those scars?" after he spied the various painful looking crisscrossing lines over her olive toned flesh.

Dori tensed and refused to look at them.

In front of her even Luffy froze, he might not know where she got them exactly but he had overheard Shanks and Makino talking about how his nee-chan's experience must have been horrible. Luffy also remembered how his nee-chan once told him about the phantom pains they gave her, especially the one on her inner thigh, when it rained… he didn't want to talk about the scars, it hurt his sister to talk about it.

"It doesn't matter!" Luffy snapped angrily at the two boys, much to their surprise.

"It's alright Lu." She whispered lovingly to her little brother, "One day." she told them seriously, "One day, I'll tell you everything." She promised morosely, the two boys nodded unsure back to her.

**_Translate: _**

_Sorry guy's but I really don't want to translate the entire song (it's called 'Los Peces en el Rio' or the 'Fish in the River'…. There isn't an English equivalence of this song) by hand, the meaning would be lost in translation… but the general gist of the song is that the Virgin Mary is by a river doing various chores like washing cloth diapers, etc…. anyway the chorus is that the fish are like in awe of her, yea…. I really don't know how to explain that, but it's really my favorite Christmas carol next to 'El Burrito Sabanero' and 'El Tamborilero' (which is the Spanish version of the little drummer boy)… Anyway if you want to hear the song, follow this link: ( watch?v=ryTIcppr_Xo) _

**Authors Note:**

**Hey guys! I know that the Holidays are over… and it sucks to have to get back to reality. By the way, I was re-reading the last chapter and I realized that I have some unfortunate grammatical mistakes…. I'm really sorry! English is my second language and grammar has been a pain in my ass since I started learning the language, on top of that I don't have a beta anymore since I don't want to bother Erin, her work load at school has increased significantly. I hope that these mistakes won't stop you from continuing to read my fic.**

**So remember this is the chapter I had to split in three, this is the last part of ****_Brothers?_**** (I'm so glad it's finally over!)…. Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck… **

**I wanted to know if you guys want me to do a side story portraying Dylan's POV. It would go from his death up until he meets up with his sister again… remember he would be falling into the Naruto Universe. In this fic I'm making the Naruto Universe an island in the New World, I'll also probably make the hidden One Piece hidden somewhere in the Elemental Countries….. Yup! So tell me what you think, I'd be willing to hear suggestions as to what part of the Time line Dylan lands in and what kind of ninja he'd end up being… (though him being a part of Konoha is something I won't change, he could come from another village originally but he needs to end up at Konoha)….**

On a another note, I know his chapter is a little late by my standards considering that I always post it on the 24th but I have been having a really tough moment in my life right now. I've been really depressed since October, and it got so bad that I was feeling suicidal for a while (I still am really)…. I've lived with depression all my life really and this time it just really hit me hard, it got to the point where I couldn't physically leave my house, I would have panic attacks and fainted twice over the course of my first semester in college before I had to go to school. I ended up missing a lot of days and ended up failing my first semester, btw the letter addressed to me saying that I failed arrived on New Years Eve so my dad was extremely pissed. Additionally my beloved Abuela passed away the first Monday of the New Year, so on Jan. 4th, I now have a legitimate reason to despise Mondays. Her death literally happened in the span of three days, on Saturday she was hospitalized for severe stomach pain, on Sunday the doctors told us it might be kidney failure when they noticed one day later that she wasn't peeing regularly, my family was going insane trying to find the medication that she needed to treat her but they weren't able to find it in any of the hospitals, she died alone at 4:00 Monday morning in the hospital. The situation in Venezuela is disgusting, people are dying every single day because they can't afford to buy food (people who were middle class are now the poor, the poor are now the dying, the 'rich' can't find anything and are trying to escape) basically everyone is starving, medicine that could have been used to save people's lives like my grandmother can't be found anywhere. Unfortunately only my mom and dad were able to go to the wake and the funeral because we couldn't afford buying 6 plane tickets to Venezuela to burry my grandmother. It has been really difficult year for my family so far. In the end I decided to take a year off school to get my life together (it was one of the options the college I was going to gave me, they said I could readmit in a year), I'll be taking courses at the community college (during the summer and the fall) until I can go back to my original school, for now I have to find a job... Basically I'm not really in the right state of mind at the moment, my family is falling apart because my mother's grief over lousing her mother is causing her to lose her rationality, my sister Nana is literally drowning in school work (she's doing the I.B. diploma) and is snapping at everyone, I learned that my younger sister (code name) Mono is being bullied horribly at school by the 'cool kids' and I hadn't noticed it until now, my youngest sister (code name) Annoyer is failing school and only has one friend because the other kids don't like her…. Not to mention that I can't find a fucking therapist or a psychiatrist… I haven't really had much inspiration for writing lately. I'm still going to be updating my stories. I'M NOT DROPPING ANY OF MY STORIES! But please understand if they are a little late.

**(I'm still going to be doing a birthday special for Dori on the 14****th**** of February but otherwise we'll see what happens, I do already have a couple chapters already prepared in advance for this story so it shouldn't be too big of a problem for this one).**

I sincerely thank any one that has reviewed my story [bows respectfully].~You know who you are~

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month!

**5,168 words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	10. Birthday Day Short (NotAnActualChap)

**_Birthday/Valentine's Day Special:_**

**_Quick Note:_ This takes place 11 years in the future….. Oh and _"this means they are speaking in Spainsh!"_**

The rolling waves were tame under the fast speed of the small dark blue racing dingy, as it skid quietly across the surface a trail of water quickly following behind it. A small figure braced the howling salted wind unflinchingly, their black cloak billowed behind them, only impeded by the red medium sized duffel bag that was strapped onto their back, but miraculously the hood protecting the identity of the person hadn't flown off from the sheer speed they were going…

Dori carefully checked the direction of the vivre card again and adjusted the direction of the dingy expertly, she had been making her way to the Moby Dick for three days now and based on the information she'd gathered at the last island she'd stopped at that morning… she was close to finally arriving at the ship of the 'Strongest Man in the World.' But more importantly she was close to reuniting with Ace for the first time since he joined the Whitebeard pirates. Sure the two of them had continued to exchange letters, like they had always done since Ace left their home island when she was sixteen, but she had missed the freckled faced boy-well-man.

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips (despite the fact that she was slightly pissed at Ace, considering that they had agreed to meet up at an island five days away from her current location two weeks previously) as she thought about the last time she had seen the muscular black haired man. She had decided to temporarily travel with Ace and the Spade Pirates when the two had accidentally met up in the Grandline when she was eighteen, at first the plan was originally for her to accompany them until the next island but she had ended up staying with the crew for three entire months before she ended up departing (she had received new information, a lead if you will, on the possible whereabouts of the Elemental Nations from a reliable contact of hers that deemed some investigating).

Those three months spent with the Spade Pirates had been the most relaxing she'd had since she set off from Fooshia Village when she turned seventeen, sure it had been action packed and extremely loud at times (Ace's crew had been as rowdy as when her brothers were children) but it was the most human interaction that she'd had since she started her journey as a 'Ghost Pirate.' She was as much of a pirate as Ace and now Luffy (as he had set sail just last week), she was just an invisible one. After all it would be hard to conduct all of the detective work she had been doing for roughly three years now if she had a bounty like the boys.

But spending time with Ace had definitely been a plus, the two of them had tentatively started a relationship just before Ace had set sail when he was seventeen and it had been nice to curl up in the older boy's arms at night like she'd always done growing up.

Dori sighed in relief as she saw the massive ship that Ace was currently dwelling on in the distance, taking her hand off the wheel she readjusted the red bandanna, which had been gifted to her as a child by Shanks, around her neck. Despite the fact that years had gone by since she was a nine year old brat living on Mt. Corvo, her style of clothes hadn't really changed all that much… She still often liked to wear overalls (though her outfit now kind of looked like she was wearing booty shorts with suspenders now from how long the straps were), but now the shorts were cut down mid-thigh and clung to her tightly as if were a second layer of skin (Ace had told her once that it made her ass look huge), she wore a dull orange shirt that clung to her chest in all the right places (considering that she wasn't exactly ample in that department, unfortunately) underneath and the overall straps had holsters attached to them carrying her two guns as well as a strong metal pipe that resembled the ones she used to fight with as a child, her red rain boots were exchanged for red leather cowgirl boots that gave her pathetically small stature of exactly five feet a two inch boost where she had hidden two small pocket knives. Her waist length hair was in a tight French braid underneath her hood to stop any loose stands from smacking against her skin painfully as she glided across the sea. The dark cloak that covered her features from the world really was the main difference between her current style and her style from the past.

Dori quickly flipped on the 'silent' switch on the small dashboard in front of her that made the already pretty quiet engine of the dingy go completely silent as she sneaked off to tie it up to the ship at an angle in which the person at the crow's nest would never be able to spot her.

"Thatch! Ace! You bastards! I'm going to get you!" an angry and frustrated voice screamed from above her on the deck, followed up by two mischievous howls (one that was very familiar to Dori) of laughter and the scuffling of feet as they pounded their way across the deck trying to get away from the person they had aggravated. "Stay put!" he screamed angrily.

"Hahahaha! No way Izo!" Ace's familiar, and comforting, voice shouted back at the irritated crew member now identified as Izo. Dori smiled bemused as she heard the scuffle of an amazing chase going on board of the deck before she smirked mischievously, finding a way that she could get rid of the pent up anger that the freckled man had caused her when her didn't show up to their rendezvous point, and pulled the hood over her head more snuggly and made sure to cover her entire body with the heavy cloak. She crouched down before jumping up onto the railing of the ship harshly as she pulled out her pipe and smacked it against the railing under her feet, gaining the attention of everyone on the deck as they got into defensive statures against the figure that had sneaked onto their ship.

A tall muscular blond haired man (his hair funnily enough resembled a pineapple, letting her know that it was the First Commander of the Whitebeard pirates that Ace enjoyed playing pranks on) with an open shirt, showing off his Whitebeard tattoo, stepped forward while glaring suspiciously at the small 'intruder' in front of him. "Identify yourself! What's your business with us!?" he growled out in a threating manner.

Lowering her head so that it would be even harder for anyone to spot her face, she chuckled 'darkly' before calling out, "Portgas D. Ace~" she said lifting her head slightly to show off the malicious smile painted on her face, "You should have known I'd come to beat your skinny ass when you didn't show up two weeks ago…" she growled menacingly while her right hand clenched the pipe tightly, causing the cowboy hat wearing man to gasp in recognition before he paled rapidly (making his freckles stand out even more against his now pasty white complexion) causing his 'brothers' to stand closer to him in a protective manner.

"Oi, Ace! You recognize this chit?" Thatch asked his freckled counterpart in concern and curiosity. Ace only nodded at Thatch's question, not trusting his voice just yet to form a verbal response.

"Oho? Ace… Lu caught your tongue?" she teased angrily as her left hand delicately rested against her cheek, "You ass, _you were actually gonna get some you know? But now the only thing I want to do is hammer your testicles to the wall…_" she hissed in Spanish, causing a green tint to color Ace's previous pale face.

"Ah…" the small whimper trembled out of his lips, "Was that su-supposed to be t-two weeks ago? Haha.. please d-don't….. _You know how b-bad I am at keeping a record of time, I-I thought we we-were meeting up next mon-month…_" Ace stuttered out in fear, making his crew members more anxious as they had never seen Ace so terrified of someone before.

"Hmmm," she contemplated his shaky excuse before motioning to come close to her, only for him to shake his head rapidly in response earning an angry growl from the small woman balanced on the railing. Nervously he moved closer to her, despite his protesting crew mates, until he was a two yards away from her, _"Did you at least remember to buy me a decent present you jerk?"_ she asked resigned.

Ace smiled widely at that question, _"Yea I did, it's in my room."_

"Alright then!" she chirped, her malicious aura disappearing immediately as her mood did a complete 180, and jumped down attaching her pipe to its holster on her hip. "I'm not gonna castrate you this time Ace! But if you ever forget to…" she trailed off, "Well let's just say, your never gonna make Jii-chan a great-grandfather, k?" she said happily as she pulled down her hood revealing her face.

"Ha… Right! Never forgetting again!" Ace agreed hurriedly as color returned to his face before he smiled happily down at his, now not murderous, girlfriend. He had missed her, despite the terrifying threat she'd made against his manhood.

"Good!" she nodded before turning to look at all of the crew members that had surrounded them to see what the commotion had been all about, bowing politely at them, "Ah, sorry about that. I was really pissed that Ace forgot to meet up with me at the rendezvous point two weeks ago like he was supposed to, after all you'd think the baka would remember to meet up with me… especially after the _punishment_ he got the last time he didn't show up on time." she said smiling sweetly when Ace shuddered as he remembered her extremely cruel-and creative-_punishment_, "I'm Monkey D. Dorian, Ace's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all in person."

Marco's eyes widened in surprise as seemingly everyone on board screamed "WHAT!" in unison before Thatch started laughing hysterically.

"A-Ace! You're so whi-whipped!" he screamed out between howls of laughter causing the other shocked members to start laughing with him, Ace's eyes widened as he saw his laughing brothers (despite feeling embarrassed by their ribbing, he _was_ sporting a blush on his face) before looking at his now stony faced girlfriend. This wasn't going to end well. He tried telling them to cut it out with some desperate hand signals behind Dori's back, only to be ignored as his brothers were all going purple faced with laughter, when said girlfriend snapped.

Dori's hand whipped so fast to the gun resting in its holster that the pirates that were actually paying attention to the couple didn't see her hand move and quickly fired a bullet to land a few millimeters away from where Thatch's crotch was as he stopped rolling on the floor, "That was just a warning shot, the next one is planting itself in your left testie. Does anyone else think it's funny?" she asked the now pale Whitebeard pirates causing all of them to shake their heads rapidly in fear, "Ah, I thought so!" she chirped before turning to Ace and grabbing his hand, "Ace~ Introduce me to your Oyaji, k? _That way we can spend the rest of the afternoon in your cabin dealing out your punishment!_"

Ace looked both reluctant and excited (and slightly terrified) at the thought of Dori's cruel-unique-punishment. He was going to spend the rest of the afternoon, evening and probably early morning tied to his bed… not that he was complaining, but Dori was probably still a little pissed based on how tight she was clenching on his hand… well it was either she was still pissed or being around that many unfamiliar men was unnerving her. Dori had never gotten over the fact that she'd been raped as a child, he didn't think she ever would, but he wouldn't ever look down on her... after all she had conquered the majority of her fear over sex with him.

Ace looked at her anxious expression as he led her to Oyaji's cabin and smiled gently at her, looking around to make sure they were alone, he bent down to her level and kissed her softly on the lips, "Don't be nervous Dori, he's gonna love you. _After all, I do._" He told her confidently as she smiled lovingly back at him, and the tenseness that had been in her posture seemed to melt.

"Hmm, if you say so Ace." She said softly, her hold on his hand turning gentler before she looked up coyly at him, "But that doesn't mean you are getting out of your punishment, Ace!" she teased, her cheeks reddening slightly at the implications of her statement.

Ace smiled widely back at her, despite that their faces were now competing in their bright shades (Dori had never lost the ability of being able to make Ace go as red as cherry when she wanted him to), "I wouldn't have it any other way." He responded back saucily. Standing in front of the Pirate Captains quarters he looked back down lovingly at the girl who had been standing by his side since he was ten years old, "Dori."

"Hmm?" she said looking up at him curiously despite the fact that she was nervous to meet Oyaji.

"Happy Birthday!"

A giant smile bloomed across her face; he was going to make this the best birthday she'd ever had... even if he'd mixed up the dates of the original day they were supposed to meet up. Together they opened the heavy door in front of them…

**Author's Note:**

**SO… yea. I wrote that… Please use you imaginations to figure out what happens next… I'm not ready to write Dori as a saucy-sexually active-woman just yet… I do have to admit it was interesting trying to write the duo as adults vs them as the kids I've gotten used to them being… Anyway they were a little OOC, the both of them, but that's mostly due to the fact that in my head they are still 9 and 10 respectively… in the future when they are actually this age they are going to act somewhat similarly but not exactly like the way that they acted in this omake. (I was just experimenting… though sexual scenes will eventually be incorporated into the fic, it is rated 'M' after all) Although Ace is still going to have a healthy amount of respect-read fear-for Dori, as she (literally in this short) has him by the balls, but all of this power she has over him was given to her by him and the same goes for vice versa (Dori likes being put in the spot as much as she likes being the one to put him in the spot). Right now though in the current timeline of the fic, they are just entering a tentative puppy love… Ace is still in denial (of everything, he'd rather pretend she's a boy until it's impossible for him not to), and Dori is too traumatized by the events that led her to the OP universe… though she does love to relentlessly tease him, its Dori's favorite pastime to make Ace go as red as cherry… Hehehe, she's a bit of sadist. Her profession in this fic is all really going to happen though, that's already what I've planned… Hehe, she's a Ghost Pirate. Her goal? Not telling :P**

**Anyway… HAPPY BIRTHDAY DORI AND DYL!**

**Oh, and I hope you guys are all enjoying Valentine's Day!**

**I love you all! 3**

**2,323 Words**

**Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	11. Chapter 11: Past Revealed

**Chapter 8:** _Past Revealed_

Ace, Sabo, Luffy and Dori spent the majority their time fighting with wild animals in the mountain and the jungle as well as with hooligans from the city and pirates in the cove. Time passed on and the four kids became closer together. They spent countless hours of the day training to get stronger, and had set matches between all four of them every day. Dori was getting stronger in leaps and bounds, she never imagined that she would be able to beat her physically stronger and slightly bigger little brother, but she did… though that wasn't saying much as Luffy always seemed to knock himself out in the end…

"Gum-Gum…" Luffy shouted running at his opponent furiously as winded up his arm behind him, "Pistol!" he let his arm fly in front of him towards Ace. He missed; his hand bounced off the ground and smacked him in the face comically as 'swirls' appeared in his eyes from how dizzy his own punch made him.

Ace looked surprised momentarily before he grimaced, not even looking at Luffy, "Now tell me…" he began calmly before he jumped up in the air and kicked Luffy with both of his feet, "What are you doing!?" he screamed angrily.

Sabo and Dori looked at the sparing black haired boys, "One point!" Sabo announced moving to write on the chalk board holding all of their scores.

Luffy moaned and twitched on the ground in pain. Dori giggled before lifting him up in her arms and sitting back down next to the score board. Absentmindedly she began to run her fingers through his hair as Sabo and Ace started their match, she had already had her match against Ace, Sabo and Luffy earlier and she was just waiting for the boys to finish so that they could go home.

Leaning back onto the wooden pillars of the board she looked up at the clear blue sky in barely concealed awe. After a year of having to stare at the molding ceiling of the abandoned hospital room that she'd been chained to with her twin, she often took the time to look up at the sky and marvel. She found herself often appreciating the nature that surrounded her a lot more than before she was kidnapped. Honestly one doesn't know how much they appreciate or will miss grass until they have been deprived from it for so long.

Dylan was an outdoors sport junkie, he loved playing football (not the American football) and baseball into the long hours of the day. And Dori had never minded indulging him; after all she loved to play basketball until she was drenched with sweat. _'I wonder if they even have basketball here?'_

Dori watched as puffy white clouds drifted peacefully above her, moving where the wind would take them at a sedate pace. Wind. Oh, how she had both missed and detested it during her stay in _hell_. The twins only winter in the hospital had been horrible, while the building was protecting them from the majority of the cold, it was an old one, and drafts of freezing wind would often chill the wet sibling to the bones resulting in running fevers and illnesses that had almost killed them. But during the hot, sticky summer heat… Dori was positive that she and Dylan would have killed to feel even a trickle of fresh air.

Grass swayed gently around her, tickling the sensitive skin of her legs. A small sad smile painted her face, her red bandanna was wrapped around her neck for once so her wavy curly hair was free and being raked by the wind, tussling the dark strands from side to side. She closed her eyes tiredly and let the sun's warm rays gloss over her eye lids, dark bags could be seen forming under her eyes. The _date_ was coming up soon, she had a gut feeling that the weeks surrounding the day her life and her twin's life was… stolen would always be hard for her.

A shadow above her blocked out the sun. Dori blinked in confusion as she looked up at the freckled face boy above her.

"Come on, stop day dreaming, we're going to go hunt something to eat. Let's go!" he said beginning to turn away only to stop and offer her his hand to get up.

Dori blinked again in confusion before she remembered who he was, _'Ace…'_ her face reddened in embarrassment. "Sorry… for holding us up." She apologized as the older boy helped her up.

He didn't say anything, only tilted his head slightly before all four of them ran into the jungle to find food.

A couple of days had passed and the four children were once again hunting for food only this time they were hunting at the lake infested with the supersized alligators, the very same lake where Luffy was almost eaten alive. The four of them looked down hungrily at the beasts in the lake, from their perch on a sturdy moss covered branch of one of the jungles ancient looking trees they were able to scope out their designated prey without being caught.

"Okay, let's go for these gators." Ace stated softly, biting his fingernail excitedly.

"I love alligator meat!" Luffy exclaimed happily, salivating at the thought of the cooked meat.

"Luffy, don't get eaten this time." Sabo advised the younger boy, not taking is eyes off the gators "You were only okay last time because you were swallowed whole."

"Hmpf, from what Lu told me Sabo… it wasn't his fault." Dori commented also mesmerized by the giant scaled beasts that would end up being her dinner.

Ace ignored her comment and continued Sabo's trail of thought, "You wait here, Luffy. You can't swim so you'd only slow us dow-"

Ace was cut off by Luffy's chirpy "Gator meat!" as he jumped off the ledge with his arms spread wide, his left hand clutching the lead pipe that the boys gifted them while his right hand formed a fist bump that was thrust into the air.

"What!?" Sabo screamed concerned.

"I said 'wait'!" Ace shouted frustrated at Luffy's short attention span.

"IDIOT!" Dori launched herself off the branch holding her pipe up threateningly above her as she yelled at Luffy for his stupidity, honestly the boy was shaving years off her life with his random acts of 'daring.'

The harsh environment of Mt. Corvo was making them stronger day by day, and it was getting easier for the four kids to beat opponents, like the gators, as time went on. On this particular day, the four of them were making their way to the Great Gate (the only entrance to the Goa Kingdom) to sell the alligator skin from their latest catch.

Dori panted quietly from the strain of carrying Sabo on her shoulders, her legs were being held tightly onto by Ace who in turn was sitting on poor Luffy's shoulder. She definitely didn't want to be in her little brother's position. The heavy black clock that covered all four children from head to toe, definitely wasn't helping, but it was necessary for their disguise. Bluejam's men hadn't forgotten nor forgiven them for stealing from them and costing them good able men (apparently Porchemy and the thugs that had tortured Luffy and Dori had been killed for failing to return the money and for lousing to children) so they had had to put on a disguise.

It had actually been Sabo's idea to dress like a tall older man, since the pirates and their accomplices were-_still_-looking for four kids not a suspicious older man pulling a cart.

Just when the children thought they were safe one of the guards at the entrance stopped them, Dori couldn't see this guard but she knew that they all wore the same black and green uniform that came with a giant hazmat face mask to protect them from the filth of the terminal, "Oi, wait! What's in that package?"

Sabo deepened his voice, "It's alligator skin. I'm here to sell it."

"Alligator?" the man questioned in disbelief while Ace lifted up the green cloak that was covering the scaly skin of the gator to show the man, "G-Go ahead!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Sabo walked sedately through Edge Town as Ace continued to pull the cart behind them, the four of them had changed the order of whom was sitting on who's shoulders, Sabo was now at the bottom with Luffy on his shoulders and Dori on top of him (as she couldn't be on the top since they were masquerading as a man) and Ace on top of her shoulders.

"Oi, Ossan! Leave your package here!" one of the thugs loomed as his friends began to laugh, "Hey why don't you say anything!?" the man questioned angry.

"Shut up, you punk." Ace's voice responded, his face being shadowed over from underneath the cloak.

"What!?" the same thug said affronted only to be swiped of his feet by Dori when she pulled her pipe forward causing him to lock his knee. "Y-You little!"

"When you mug somebody, be careful on who you pick!" Ace exclaimed as they ripped off the heavy cloak showing the hidden children all holding their pipes threateningly as they smirked at the now cowering thugs.

"Th-They are the…" one thug began fearfully.

"Let's do this!" Ace screamed jumping into the air as he was followed by the other three kids.

"Okay!" Sabo, Luffy and Dori screamed in unison, excited to beat up some thugs.

"I'm glad they paid so much for the skin!" Sabo exclaimed, they were once again sitting on top of each other shoulders, Luffy was wobbly walking down the clean cobble stone streets of Down Town Goa Kingdom, Dori was on top his shoulders holding onto Sabo's legs tightly who was in turn holding onto Ace. They had just sold the alligator skin for a high price and were happily making their way down the street, much to the disgust and ire of the wealthy-but ugly-citizens of the Kingdom. "We got more for the 'pirate savings!'"

"I'm hungry!" Luffy complained, though Dori couldn't blame him…. she was starving as well.

"Just a little longer. We'll have great ramen noodles!" Ace told him, Dori's stomach growled.

"What is ramen? Is it really good?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Ramen~" Dori drooled, "It's amazing Sabo! Super delicious!"

"Whatever's fine! I wanna eat soon!" Luffy complained.

"This is the restaurant." Ace said as they made their way inside.

"Hi, how may I help you!" A manager asked politely as they entered before he got a good look at the 'man' entering the establishment. He flailed his limbs erratically in distress, "W-W-Wait a minute! What are you doing!? People like you aren't allowed here!" he exclaimed looking at the 'man' in disgust.

Sabo looted around his pockets before he found what he was looking for and presented the golden pendent to the manager, "The V.I.P. room will due." He said deepening his voice.

"Th-That mark is…." The manager stuttered out nervously as sweat began to pour down his face. "We're so honored to have a noble like you come to our restaurant." He bowed sheepishly as a hand rubbed the back of his head nervously. "We'll prepare a room for you right away!" he gestured for them to enter anxiously before he ran off to find a room.

Ace smiled wildly underneath the cloak, "That thing is pretty handy!" he whispered to Sabo happily.

Sabo twitched nervously before he sheepishly said, "Maa, I found it on the street a while ago." He laughed nervously. Dori tightened her grip on Sabo's ankles, she didn't have to know the manga to know he was lying, just from the tone of his voice she could tell he wasn't being truthful, but she would let it go. After all the boys had never pushed her to tell them about her past, so why should she?

They were quickly led to an expensive V.I.P. room and served four steaming bowls of high-quality ramen by a nervous waitress, "Here are four ramen noodle bowls! Thank you for waiting! Enjoy your meal!" she shut the door behind her softly.

Ace smirked happily as Sabo poked his head through the cloak, "So this is ramen!?" he exclaimed while looking at the enticing bowl.

Dori poked her head out next to him, "Aww, the smell! So delicious!"

Luffy poked his head out last excitedly, "It looks good!"

Ace ripped the cloak off from all of them, "Well, try it." He encouraged.

"Yum-yum!" Luffy choked out as he swallowed the noodles without stopping to breathe.

"Yeah! It's good!" Sabo agreed as he slurped up the noodles, at least he waited to finish chewing before he began talking.

Dori smiled at the three boys as she daintily ate her bowl of ramen; she was starving not a pig... Dori was positive that she would be able to eat at least one more entire bowl as the serving size was already pretty huge, but she knew that the boys wouldn't be stopping any time soon.

"I want mor-" Luffy began shouting only to have Sabo and ace quickly cover his mouth angrily.

"Lu, shhh!" Dori whispered panicked, looking at the door.

Sabo coughed into his fist and deepened his voice, "I need more! Four more ramen noodles!" he called out to the waitress waiting behind the door.

"Yes sir! Here they are!" the waitress screamed as she brought the boiling bowls of soup to the 'man.'

Dori finished her second and last bowl of ramen happily as she patted her tummy in content, she looked at her gluttonous friends and little brother and giggled, they were still hungry. She watched amusedly as the growing number of finished bowls towered over their heads until that is... Luffy got impatient and when the poor waitress brought in yet another three bowls of piping hot ramen, Lu extended his arm behind them and grabbed the tray from her arm.

"Ahhhh!" the waitress screamed in surprise before the door closed.

Dori looked at the door when she heard the sound of two furious footsteps run up the stairs, _'Looks like we've been caught…'_ Dori thought amused before she grabbed her pipe with her left hand after she picked up her red bandanna from the table and tied it over the bridge of her nose so it would cover her lower face.

"Sir! We need to talk!" the manager demanded as he threw the door open behind them.

Ace, Luffy and Sabo looked up in surprise, not hearing the duo run up the stairs since they weren't paying attention. Dori laughed at their panicked expressions.

"Damn! They found out!" Ace cursed unhappily as Dori sprinted to the window waiting for the boys to get off their asses and move, Luffy quickly grabbed a napkin and left a message for the angry chefs, promising to pay them back one day.

"Let's go!" Sabo screamed heading towards the window, breaking the glass with his pipe and jumping out, being closely followed by Ace, Dori and Luffy.

"They didn't pay!" the manager screamed in indignation and anger, "Catch them somebody!"

The pedestrians walking on the street looked up in surprise as the fourth story window shattered and four small figures jumped out.

"Ah, the ramen noodles were great!" Sabo exclaimed satisfied as they fell towards a stripped sun visor.

"Told you!" Ace and Dori crowed while looking at him, Luffy screamed silently while his hands covered his mouth full with the delicious noodles they just ate.

"Catch them!?" "But they're just kids!?" loud pedestrians asked each other in confusion as the four kids jumped off the visor and onto the ground where they began running.

"I-It's them again! They are such pests! Why were they let in?" a fat police man exclaimed as he began to futilely run after the laughing children. "Don't let them run away! Somebody catch those four kids!"

They dodged in between the crowds and ran without stopping until a deep voice began shouting, "Sabo? That must be Sabo! Wait! You're alive! Let's go home!" Sabo paused for a moment and looked back at the tall man calling out to him, before deciding to ignore the voice as Ace, Luffy and Dori caught up to him.

"Oi, Sabo! He's calling you!" Ace told him while Luffy looked back at the man.

"Who is that?" Luffy asked innocently. Dori looked at Sabo in concern, before she began to tug at his coat sleeve so that they would all start running again and get away from the scene.

Sabo looked at her and nodded, "He confused me with someone else. Let's go!" he said as he began running again.

"W-Wait!" the tall dark haired man shouted as began to run after them before stopping.

The four of them continued running until they were deep into the jungle. Ace stopped them before turning to Sabo, "What is going on Sabo? What are you hiding?"

"What? I'm not hiding anything!?" Sabo said affronted.

"Oh, you aren't?" Luffy asked innocently.

Ace glared at Luffy for a moment before turning back to Sabo, "Yes, you are! Tell us, Sabo! We can't have secrets among us!"

"Tell us!" Luffy and Ace demanded together, Dori looked at the trio nervously in shame... she was keeping the largest secret amongst them so she couldn't speak up unless she also wanted to be grilled, but she knew that Sabo wasn't comfortable with having his secret out either.

Sabo looked at the boys nervously before looking away, "I said that I'm not hiding anything…"

Ace and Luffy grabbed onto Sabo's shirt, "Tell us, you bastard! Or I'll beat you up!" Ace shouted while Sabo tried to push them away futilely.

"Alright, I'll tell you!" Sabo choked out lowering his head before explaining.

"Ehh!" Luffy screamed in surprise, while Dori looked at him understandingly.

"The son of a noble!?" Ace asked.

"Who is?" the boy's asked dumbly.

"I am!" Sabo shouted in frustration looking up at the boys, who were now picking their noses like the perfect gentlemen they were, Dori looked at them in disgust.

"And?" the boy's asked wanting to know what the big deal was.

"You two asked me first!" Sabo shouted. Dori patted his arm to calm him down, sometimes Dori honestly believed that the dark-haired boys were blood-related siblings… they were just too alike.

"The truth is, both of my parents are alive. So I'm not an orphan and I didn't grow up in the Gray Terminal. The man who called to me today was… my father." Sabo explained morosely as he stared at the grass from where he was sitting, Dori was tempted to sit beside him, to comfort him that is, but she knew that Sabo needed to get it off of his chest on his own. Ace and Luffy looked at him surprised. "I was lying to you guys. I'm sorry." Sabo said quietly in shame.

"He said 'I'm sorry' so we gotta forgive him." Luffy smiled speaking seriously, while looking at the still shocked Ace.

"Let's hold off on forgiveness… it all depends on your motive." Ace said looking away from the blond who had been his friend for years to stare at the ocean from the cliff they were talking at. "Why were you living there if you're from a noble family?"

All three of the boys turned to look at the ocean; Dori refused to look at anybody and leaned heavily on the tree Sabo was sitting under.

"The reason I ran away was…" the two boys looked at Sabo expectantly, "They love those who can maintain their status and defend their property. Not me! If I can't marry a woman from the royal family, I'm worthless! That's why they made me study and take culture lessons. And they were arguing every day because I wasn't doing well. I had no place to be in that family! I'm sorry for all three of you but I was all by myself even though I had parents! Nobles have a low opinion of the Gray Terminal but it's better than the stifling High Town where your life has been arranged for years to come!"

"I see." Ace said looking at Sabo.

"Brave." The three boys looked at Dori in surprise, she hadn't spoken in a while and they hadn't really expected her to say anything as she always avoided serious confrontations between the boys. "Sabo, you're much braver than we were." She elaborated smiling softly.

"We?" Luffy asked quietly.

"Dylan." She whispered his name like a prayer, Luffy and the two boys looked at her shocked.

"I told you I would tell you one day, why not now…." She trailed off before moving to sit down beside Sabo, "Sit." She commanded, "This is going to be a long story Ace, Luffy… so please sit down an-and just listen." She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs.

"I don't know if you two know this…" she began, looking at Ace and Sabo, "but Luffy and I aren't related by blood. We met each other two-three months before we moved to Mt. Corvo with you Ace… before th-that… something happened to me, to us." She looked at the older boy's shocked faces, before smiling bitterly, "We died and were born on our birthday…. Dylan and I we're twins, I was born five minutes before him on February 14th, you guys could say I've always been an older sister. Our parents…" she hissed out, "hated us. W-We were never supposed to be born! 'Abominations! Bitch! Whore! Little monsters! Life-suckers!' those are the first words I can remember from when I was a baby, they al-always used to tell us that we would have been ab-aborted if they had-hadn't found out 'too late' that my mo-mother was pregnant. When my grandparents found out they forced my parents to get married so that Dyl and I wouldn't be born out of wed-lock…. So they hated us! They said we ruined their 'perfect lives' by being born!" she panted, before continuing.

"They were rich, our parents. So rich that they bought an apartment for us to live in that was on the other side of the town so that they wouldn't ever have to see us… unless our grandparents were visiting and they wanted to see their 'darling grandchildren'. Our grandparents…ugh! They cared about us, I know they did, they stopped my mom from aborting us, but they didn't ever realize how much _they_ hated us! They weren't around often they never saw how much it hurt to just live!" she ranted before whispering guiltily, "Some-sometimes I used to wish that my Grandmother never realized that my mother was pregnant…. But then I would remember Dylan, and I can't see a world without him! He-he's…" she trailed off not knowing how to explain before she looked up lovingly at Luffy, "He's like Luffy! A world without Luffy would be an empty one and so would one be without Dyl!"

"We were too scared to runaway Sabo," she explained looking at the blond boy, "we-we had always wished that maybe one day our parents would suddenly realize that they've actually loved us this entire time! Th-that the fact they wanted us dead was all a cruel joke! Bu-but it really wasn't!" she sobbed. "My parents, they cheated out somebody's business. Th-they didn't know that the guy they double crossed was a yakuza boss… he wan-wanted revenge! But he chose the wrong way to go about it… because they nev-never cared about us!" Dori began to tremble furiously as she began to remember her time spent in hell.

"O-one day after school ended w-we were going home after playing basketball with the orphans that lived in a foster ho-home not far from the ap-apartment… when they came! I was-wasn't strong enough! And they kidnapped us! It-it was complete and utter HELL! We were chained to separate beds in an abandoned hospital…. th-they.. tor-tortured us! An ENTIRE year went by! NOTHING! The yakuza boss contacted my parents and you kn-know what they said?" she asked rhetorically as she glared at the sea, "'_keep the stupid little spawns that had _ruined_ their lives by being conceived, and to make sure that they suffered'_…. The boss, he ha-had called them in fr-front of us after sending them a picture of our broken bodies… he wan-wanted us to hear it so that we-we would call out t-to them for help…" she started to laugh brokenly, "He was so mad! He ev-even told us he was so-sorry our parents were assholes, b-but he couldn't let us go un-until he got his mon-money back.." Dori sobbed, tears clouded her vision and snot ran disgustingly down her face.

"It go-got a lot worse af-after that! The beatings were lo-longer and they stopped giving us treatment, they only le-let us drink wa-water once a day and they on-only gave us fo-food once a week… it's why I can't eat more with-without gettin' sick… the worse- worse part…" she whispered, pressing her face into her knees, "they r-ra-raped us!" she muffled out brokenly. She faintly heard Sabo and Ace gasp in horror and Luffy ask tearfully what that meant… "Lu… it means th-that I'm dirty…. We gave up, Dyan and I, we had no one left to live for but each other and we were both tir-tired anyways…. so wh-when he….. I died. I know I died, I died on my birthday three hours after Dy-Dylan died. I wasn't hurting anymore and everything was peaceful…. But Dylan he, wasn't ready for death he want-wanted an adventure… She, Fate gave us a second ch-chance." She explained still not looking up at the boys, "I don't know why or h-how but she gave us a second chance an-and Dylan took it… so I fo-followed after him…."

"The catch, what was the catch…" Ace coaxed gently.

"One Piece. He fell on an island full of nin-ninja, called the Elem-Elemental Nations, where the One Pi-Piece is hidden. She told me th-that if we-if we can survive and tr-train we'll see each other again… b-but I have to find the island where the One Piece is to ever see h-him again… after that I woke up in the o-ocean. All of my sca-scars were back and I was bleeding- I was so afraid a sh-shark or a sea mon-monster was gonna eat me… I passed out an' Shanks- he saved me… Lu knows the story fr-from there…." She choked out.

Dori continued to cry brokenly into her overalls. She heard the ground shift and suddenly her back was wrapped up in someone's-Sabo's-arms, she heard Luffy cry sadly as he lunged at her and hugged her tightly. Dori looked up to see Ace moving towards until he gently laid his hand on top of her head, he crouched down and wrapped his arms around all three of them, as if to shield them from the horrors of the world. They stayed that way for a while, not moving, not talking, just feeling…. Dori hadn't felt so safe in a long time, she felt even safer than she did when Shanks carried her… Dori felt at home, all she was missing was her-stupid-twin brother and everything would be perfect in the world.

"Dori, Ace, Luffy…" Sabo broke the silence confidently as the four of them stood up on shaky legs. "We gotta set out to sea someday! We'll find Dylan out there, I know it! Let's get out of this country and live freely! I wanna see the world out there and write a book about it! I'd be happy to study if it was about sailing! Let's become stronger and become pirates someday!" he declared raising both of fisted hands into the air as he declared his dream.

Luffy smiled widely, his right hand holding Dori's left tightly, as he and Ace began to laugh freely. Dori felt her lips turn upwards into a small happy smile. Ace walked up to the edge of the cliff where he was able to overlook the vast free ocean, "I'm gonna become one… you don't have'ta tell me to! I'm going to become a pirate and defeat others and become infamous! It'll be the only proof of my life! It doesn't matter if all the people in the world reject me or despise me, I'll become a great pirate and show them what I can do! I won't run from anybody or lose to anyone! Because I'm feared or hated or whatever, my name will be known all over!" he declared proudly.

Dori smiled softly and let go of Luffy's hand to go stand beside Ace, "I'm going to get stronger and stronger until one day no one will have to have to be worried about me being too weak! I'll become a pirate and find the Elemental Nations and kick Dylan's ass for starting his adventure without me! I'll live to see all of my brothers' dreams come true and I'll live my life freer than anybody else!" she shouted up to the heavens as if daring them to tell her otherwise.

"Hehehe! I got it! Alright than…!" Luffy giggled proudly as he ran up to Ace's other side and breathed in deeply, "I'm gonna become the KING OF THE PIRATES!" he bellowed out confident in his dream.

"Huh?" Sabo and Ace looked at Luffy in surprise, while Dori smiled believingly at Luffy as he began to laugh happily.

"You fool…" Ace scratched his head in disbelief, "I was wondering what you'd have to say…"

Sabo began to laugh hysterically, "You're funny, Luffy! I can't wait to see how you'll turn out in the future! Ahh.. We can all become pirates but isn't it a problem that we all wanna become Captain?" Sabo asked seriously.

Luffy and Ace looked at Sabo in surprise.

"Well," Dori interrupted, "I don't wanna be captain."

The boys looked at her in astonishment, "I just want to get stronger, live freely and find the Elemental nations so that I can kick my twin's ass!" she exclaimed, "You guys choose who'll be the Captain between the three of you!"

"I wasn't expecting that… Sabo, I thought you'd wanna be navigator on my ship." Ace trailed off.

"You guys can come aboard my ship!" Luffy proclaimed with his hands on his hips.

"No thanks!" Sabo and Ace shouted at Luffy.

"Huh!? Come on! Come aboard! I said 'come aboard,' so you gotta do it!" Luffy screamed.

"That will never happen!" Ace disagreed.

"Maa, maa… you never know it_ could_ happen!" Dori teased playfully.

"Yea, never!" Sabo shouted.

"What did you say!?" Luffy asked affronted at the two older boys, before he calmed down and petulantly added. "But that's okay."

"Phhft.." Ace began laughing along with Sabo and Dori, "What's that!?" Ace asked.

"Man, you're funny, Luffy!" Sabo chirped.

**Authors Note:**

Hey guys! So Dori's B-day was this month… I thought it would be cruelly ironic for the twins to be born on Valentine's day… besides she and Dylan are very loved now!

Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time I update since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…

Anyway, I wanted to know if you guys want me to do a side story portraying Dylan's POV. It would go from his death up until he meets up with his sister again… remember he would be falling into the Naruto Universe. In this fic I'm making the Naruto Universe an island in the New World, I'll also probably make the hidden One Piece hidden somewhere in the Elemental Countries….. Yup! So tell me what you think, I'd be willing to hear suggestions as to what part of the Time line Dylan lands in and what kind of ninja he'd end up being… (though him being a part of Konoha is something I won't change, he could come from another village but he needs to end up at Konoha)….

**This Chapter is Dedicated to:** all of my faithful readers!

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll-hopefully-see you next month!

**5,163 words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	12. Chapter 12: A Toast (pt 1)

**Chapter 9:** _A Toast (pt. 1)_

It was later on in that same afternoon, after Sabo and Dori had confessed their pasts to the other two boys, when Ace had called all four of them to meet up at the tree stump that Dori knew would forever change her relationship with the boys. The small clearing was enclosed by the large rainforest-like trees that were native to Mt. Corvo and it wasn't so far from the hill where they proclaimed their dreams as Dori could still hear the faint sounds of crashing waves and the salty, comforting smell of the sea.

It was still sunny and a misty rainbow formed delicately above their heads in the canopies of the trees, a warm breeze kissed her skin and ruffled the strands of hair that weren't being pulled back by her red bandanna. Luffy was holding and swinging her hand as he cheerfully bounced on his heals impatiently as they waited for the freckled faced boy. Sabo's arms were crossed in their signature position and his pipe was uncharacteristically lying on the ground beside Ace's, Dori had stuck her and Luffy's into the soft ground behind her to form an 'X'.

Ace finally made his appearance after pushing leaves away from his face as he stepped out from behind the foliage.

"Well, let's just leave it until the time comes. Maybe we'll set out independently." Ace stated referring back to the previous argument the boy were having over who would be the captain of their future crew, as he placed four red sake cups onto the stump and lifted up a bottle full of the bitter alcohol.

"Oh! You stole that from Dadan!" Luffy shouted in surprise as he recognized the bottle of liquor that their foster mother was usually so possessive over.

"Did you guys know!?" Ace exclaimed with a wide-uncharacteristic-smile on his face as he opened up the bottle, "We can become brothers if we exchange these cups of sake!"

Dori let go of her otouto's hand and crossed her arms challenging as she jutted out her hip by leaning against her left leg and raised her eyebrow as Ace began to pour the milky looking contents of the bottle into the cups, "Only brothers Ace? I am still a girl you know? You've seen me naked." She pointed out flippantly.

Ace went red, even after the four of them had been bathing together for a couple of weeks-well it already been two full months-and the ten year old boy was still semi-awkward when it came to her unbashful nakedness and often refused to even look in her general direction when they were bathing.

"I know that you're a girl… it's just easier to pretend you're not sometimes." Ace mumbled under his breath before adding petulantly, "Besides you act a lot more like a boy than a girl…. We'll be siblings!" he amended after seeing her glare intensify.

"Brothers! Really!?" Luffy exclaimed excitedly as he looked at Ace and Sabo, after all Dori was already his nee-chan. Sabo smiled just as happily as Ace continued to pour the drink.

"When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship but our brotherhood will always be with us!" Ace explained, ignoring his and Dori's previous outburst over Dori's gender... she was beginning to resign herself to being treated as a boy for the rest of her life by Ace, not that it really bothered her all that much to begin with. "Wherever, whenever, we'll always be bonded together!"

The four of them picked up a sake cup enthusiastically, all the while exchanging smiles, "So from now on, we're brothers!" Ace shouted happily as the four of them clinked their cups together loudly with agreeing exclamations of agreement-"OSU!"-and happiness before they downed their drinks.

The burn of the alcohol slicked down her throat; she could hear Luffy slightly choking next to her before he determinedly downed the rest of it. She smiled widely at the other two boys before she started giggling amusedly.

"What?" Sabo asked curiously, whipping off stray droplets of the sake from his mouth with his sleeve_-'Pig'_ she thought fondly-as Dori continued to laugh.

Dori waved her hand as she rubbed some tears from her eyes.

"What?" Ace repeated as an amused smile tugged at his lips as he looked at the nine year old who was trying to stop laughing, she was cute when she giggled.

She looked up at the now three very curious boys, "Do you really want to know?" she teased them coyly.

"Yes!" Luffy blurted out impatiently while staring at her with wide eyes.

"Well…."

"Oh come on! Spit it out Dori!" Sabo whined.

"Alright, well I don't think I've ever sang this song before to you guys but here goes:

Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover  
Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do

Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another?  
Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do"

Dori grabbed Luffy's hand and began to spin around in a circle, her voice was unwavering and steady as she continued to sing without pause.

"What if I'm far from home?  
Oh brother, I will hear you call!  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh sister, I will help you hang on!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do

Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover  
Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do"

Luffy grabbed Sabo's hand and pulled him into their spinning circle while Dori pulled at Ace.

"What if I'm far from home?  
Oh brother, I will hear you call!  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh sister, I will help you hang on!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do…"

She sang cheerfully and loudly to her pumped audience. Luffy laughed wildly as the four let go of each other's hands and let themselves fall backwards onto the soft grass.

"Hey Brother~" Ace chuckled out of breath.

"Shishishshishi…" Luffy giggled.

"Where do you come up with these songs?" Sabo asked Dori curiously.

Smiling mysteriously, Dori tapped her nose, "That's a secret." earning three groans from her new brothers.

A month after their pledge of brother-sibling-hood the four children became even closer than they were before, Ace and Sabo would look out for Dori and Luffy. They always made sure that everyone had enough to eat and that no one was struggling, the older boys taught the youngest of the quartet how to properly hunt and what wild vegies were healthy to eat and which weren't.

After they learned that wild boars liked to scavenge for food around the bandits' base, deciding to be resourceful, they had dug holes around the bandits' house to catch the boars and camouflaged them carefully so that the animals wouldn't know they were in danger. Training had become a good way to relieve stress and become stronger so the kids trained at the hill four days per week and spent the other three days searching for treasure and hunting animals. They had also begun to fight with other thugs at Edge Town to test their skills and strength on unknown opponents; it's needless to say that they were improving by leaps and bounds.

Dori began to-try to-teach the boys Spanish, as she had realized that the language was either extinct or never existed in the first place in the world. She would sing the boys lullabies every night before they went bed... even if Ace would say it was too childish, despite the fact that he secretly loved then as well as the other boys. She had learned that while Japanese was the spoken language people did know how to speak English, it just wasn't used often, most people wrote in the English language while Japanese was used to officiate important documents.

Sabo had taken to the Spanish language like a fish in the water, he was the most patient of her brothers and it certainly helped that Sabo had actually already known how to read and write in English since they had the same alphabet. Luffy on the other hand hadn't even known how to read or write in Japanese, so she and the boys were trying to teach the very hyperactive and impatient 7 year old. While Ace had been taught how to read and write in Japanese by Dadan, he wasn't very good at writing in English, he knew the language like Luffy, but he was never taught the alphabet so she and Sabo had to teach both boys how to read and write in English. At first the three boys had been skeptical over the importance of learning a new language, but after Dori pointed out that it could be their secret language they had become more receptive to studying and learning the language.

"Sabo, who gave you permission to invade our territory!?" growled out a thug as other men in his group closed in around the small-compared to them-ten year old. Sabo was now backed up against a wall, Dori's eyebrows scrunched up as she looked at her Nii-chan in concern from the ledge where she, Ace and Luffy were watching the confrontation.

"Hey," Ace whispered suddenly, "I have an idea, Luffy do you think that you can stretch your leg long enough so that I can jump into the fight and attack them from behind."

Luffy looked at the distance it was from the roof of the building to the ground, "Unn! Are you going hold onto me?"

"Yea." Ace said as he watched on, "Dori, grab Luffy and make sure he doesn't fall of, got it?" he questioned her without eve looking.

"Loud and clear Ace. Be careful." She whispered softly, moving to help Luffy support Ace's weight.

"You're territory? Ha! You guys are so full of it! Stop talking nonsense and bring it on!" Sabo exclaimed menacingly, his top hat shadowed half of his face but she could still make out a cocky smirk on the blond boy's face as he griped his pipe, readying himself for a fight.

"Alright, get ready for a beating!" the same thug screamed as the other men shouted in agreement.

Ace swung himself quickly and began to beat up the thugs closest to him as Luffy's leg began to stretch back at the two of them at a fast velocity.

"Ace!" One of the thugs screamed in panic when he saw the freckled faced boy.

"Pay attention!" Sabo shouted as he knocked out the thug.

Dori exchanged slightly frightened glances with Luffy as his rubber leg finally stopped stretching and caused him to fly into the air at the rebound of the impact, Dori gripped Luffy's hand tightly as the two of them began to fall to the ground. Stretching out her leg, she kicked a thug on his head as she landed. Luffy similarly knocked out another thug after he bounced off the older man's back.

"You little shits!" a thug screamed as he charged them.

Luffy glared angrily and began to spin his arm to punch him, only for the bandit to reach him first and punch the boy in his face.

"I made a dent!" the thug screamed in panic, not moving his hand from where he had punched in Luffy's face.

Dori leaped up and wacked the thug with the top of her pipe and knocked him out before looking up to the opening of the alleyway where two policemen were blowing their whistles while running towards them.

"Here comes the sheriff! Let's go!" Ace shouted, dropping the bandit he had been punching to the ground, and running away with Sabo at his heels.

Dori grabbed Luffy's hand and began to run after them, as the poor seven year olds face was still smashed inwards into the dent that the thug had made with his fist.

The older boys jumped on a crate, as if it were a springboard, and launched themselves over the ally wall, "Dori, Luffy! Hurry up! Over here!" Ace shouted from his perch on top of the wall when he realized they were lagging behind.

Luffy stretched his hand over to where he heard Ace's voice and wrapped around his other arm over Dori, after Ace grabbed the younger boys arm Luffy launched himself to the wall. Dori was caught by an amused Ace as Luffy's hit the top of the wall head-first causing his face to revert back to normal.

"It's back!" Luffy screamed in relief as he fell on top of the ground on the other side of the wall.

Ace let out and amused chuckle as he jumped off the wall with Dori clinging on his back like a baby monkey and continued to run. Dori enjoyed the piggyback ride that Ace was giving her up until they reached the edge of the forest. The three boys stopped running and looked back at the giant wall surrounding the kingdom, Dori slid off Ace's back with a grateful 'thank you' and a small hug as she stared at the now setting sun.

"Let's get a deer for dinner!" Sabo exclaimed happily as he stretched out his arms.

"Ehh! I love venison! Let's go hunting!" Luffy shouted excited at the prospect of food.

Dori giggled at Luffy's wide grin as the boy began to run into the forest, "You'll always think with your stomach, huh Luffy!" she teased chasing after him.

"You two! Wait for us!" Ace and Sabo screamed as they ran to catch up.

Thankfully, it hadn't taken them too long to successfully hunt down a buck from the herd. Dori was tired and she couldn't help the happy/relieved grin that stretched across her face when they arrived at mountain bandits home.

"We're home!" Luffy shouted as they ran toward the house.

"Don't come home, annoying brats!" Dadan screeched only to have the deer they had killed thrown in her face.

"That's for dinner." Sabo stated as he walked by her.

"Cook it now." Ace commanded.

"It's time to eat!" Luffy sing-songed.

Dori giggled amusedly and poked the falling older woman causing her to lose her balance and fall on the floor with the venison now suffocating her face. "Hurry, hurry! We're hungry!" she teased before getting up from her crouch and going upstairs.

Dori weaved through the throngs of ravenous bandits and snagged a cut of the meat, she began to chew her meal slowly and savor the taste of the venison in peace from where she was sitting next to Ace. She probably wasn't going to be eating another cut, her stomach was still pretty small from her previous enforced starvation and she knew she'd just throw it up if she decided to be greedy/glutinous and eat more than she was able to. As she savored her meal she took in the sight of the 'battle for food,' as she had dubbed every meal with her family in her head, _'Pigs.'_ She thought fondly.

Sabo and Luffy had been thrown in different directions of the room by bandits as they all tried to eat the delicious meat served in front of them, a bandit decided to try his luck and grab a cut from the enormous plate only to have Ace grab his hand and glare furiously at the now panicking man and get thrown backwards as Ace began to eat again. Dori looked up at Dadan who was sitting across the room and serving herself a cup of sake, as she tried to ignore the chaos. She snorted as cuts of meat began to hit a twitching Dadan in the face from all angles until an empty sake cup hit and shattered over her face. The angry woman marched over and kicked the plate of meat causing it to go flying, as bandits ran to try and grab the flying meat, Sabo leaped in the air and snagged as much venison as he could, Ace continued to stuff his gullet with meat not bothering to let Dadan's interruption stop him.

"Don't waste food!" she screamed only to stop what she was doing when Luffy chomped on her head after missing the cut of meat he was originally aiming for. Dori giggled amusedly as munched on her meal as Dadan began to run in panicked circles, in pain, as Luffy just wouldn't let go of her head. "He's going to eat me!" she screamed terrified, Dori quickly finished eating before she started to chase after Dadan to help her get Luffy off from chomping on her head. The boy was like a piranha.

As soon as everyone had finished eating Dadan had angrily stripped the four of them and threw them in the bathroom, "Don't come out until you've count up to 10,000!" she shouted and slammed the door shut.

Ace and Sabo dunked each other in the barrel filled with warm water as Dori washed Luffy's hair from where she was sitting on the small bench, before she dumped some of the warm water on top of his head.

"Hey! Stop it!" Sabo complained as Ace mischievously began to splash him with water. "You jerk!" he screamed with a war cry as he began to splash back.

Dori giggled before she pulled Luffy up and jumped into the other tub, "Come on Lu." She patted the warm water invitingly as the younger boy stared at the tub distrustfully.

"Nee-chan what if I drown?" he asked suspiciously.

"I won't let you drown Lu." She told him confidently.

Luffy smiled widely and climbed in with her, he helped her wash her own hair and back like she had done for him and the two of them played gently in the water as Ace and Sabo's water fight began to escalate. Sabo threw the bar of soap at Ace, only for the boy to duck under the water and hit the unsuspecting Luffy in the head, in revenge Luffy threw the wooden bucket that Dori had used to pour warm water on him at Sabo… it hit Ace who had resurfaced from the water…. Dori laughed as she chased after the three boys out of the bathroom who were wearing only their towels around their waists, she wrapped her towel around her body and came into the bandits' house dripping water all over the floor.

"Luffy! Wait, you bastard!" Ace screamed angrily as the rubber boy stretched his hand and grabbed the chain connected to the pot that hung from the ceiling over the small-unlit-fire pit he sung himself over to the other side, avoiding Ace's tackle, as the ashes in the pot spilled over in cloud of dust.

Sabo fell on the ground with an "Oof," as Ace glared angrily at the culprit.

"Yay, yay! Hehe! You didn't get me!" Luffy cheered happily. Ace ran around the mess and started to chase him, Dori watched over the scene from the doorway as she laughed at the chaos that was the 'D. brothers'. She only stopped laughing when she heard a giant 'crack' sound coming from the now broken in half broom in Dadan's twitching hands, the woman had a creepy smile on her face as she laughed emotionlessly at Dogra's inquiring look.

Dori winced in sympathy as she looked at the mess her siblings had made and chased the boys upstairs so that they could get dressed and leave the poor bandits alone in peace.

Dori sat on their shared futon as she stared tiredly at the poised boys before sighing, "I don't really think this is a good idea… Dadan wasn't very happy with us earlier…"

"It's fine Dori!" Sabo tried to placate her.

"This is the last training of the day." Ace stated confidently.

"I'll win!" Luffy chirped determinedly.

"You'll never learn." Sabo scoffed.

"Here we go!" Ace said as he launched himself at the other two boys.

"Okay!" Sabo and Luffy exclaimed in unison.

Dori yawned, "I want nothing to do with this. Goodnight." She mumbled as she pulled the blanket over her head and turned her back on them. She could her them rough housing behind her before she jumped up in fright when a loud crash, caused by Ace throwing Luffy through the ground onto the once sleeping Dadan, startled her out of her cocoon of blankets.

"Damn!" Luffy complained through the hole in the floor. Dori put a hand over her startled heart as she tried to calm her breathing.

"Luffy! Are you alive?" Ace asked as he peered over the edge.

"What crappy floors." Sabo commented.

"You bastard!" Luffy shouted at Ace in indignation, after all this wouldn't have happened if Ace hadn't kicked him through the floor.

"HEY!" Dadan screamed angrily, as she attacked a now laughing Luffy.

"Should we just go to sleep?" Ace calmly asked Sabo.

"Yeah." The other boy agreed.

As soon as they sat down beside her she thumped the two of them on their heads lightly, "You guys scared the shit out of me." She grouched.

"Sorry!" they sheepishly said in unison as they pulled the younger girl down between them.

"Hmph," she sniffed, "You're forgiven. Luffy! It's time to sleep!" She called him; the seven year old launched himself through the hole in the ground and jumped on top of Sabo's chest to cuddle.

"Sing us a song, Nee-chan." He asked as Dadan continued to rage from inside the hole.

"Hmm, you don't deserve it." She mumbled sleepily.

"Please!" he whined.

"Only if Ace and Sabo don't mind." She conceded

Ace wrapped his arms around her midsection and pressed his face against her back, "It's fine… can you sing the Song of the Sea?"

Dori smiled softly and nodded.

"Hush now, mo stóirín

Close your eyes and sleep

Waltzing the waves

Diving in the deep

Stars are shining bright

The wind is on the rise

Whispering words of long lost lullabies

Oh won't you come with me

Where the moon is made of gold

And in the morning sun

We'll be sailing

Oh won't you come with me

Where the ocean meets the sky

And as the clouds roll by

We'll sing the song of the sea

I had a dream last night

And heard the sweetest sound

I saw a great white light

And dancers in the round

Castles in the sand

Cradles in the trees

Don't cry, I'll see you by and by

Oh won't you come with me

Where the moon is made of gold

And in the morning sun

We'll be sailing

Oh won't you come with me

Where the ocean meets the sky

And as the clouds roll by

We'll sing the song of the sea

Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling

Oh won't you come with me

Where the moon is made of gold

And in the morning sun

We'll be sailing free

Oh won't you come with me

Where the ocean meets the sky

And as the clouds roll by

We'll sing the song of the sea

Grá go deo….."

By the time Dori had finished the song the boys were fast asleep and she was on her way, she could hear Dadan shifting below her as the woman made herself comfortable once more. "Night, night Dadan." She mumbled hearing a grunt in return before she drifted off in a peaceful sleep.

Dori woke up to the sound of chirping birds and noisy insects…. and of Dadan shouting about something in the distance. Dori yawned while she stretched, rubbing her eyes she crawled out from underneath the blankets and carefully made her way down the ladder onto the ground floor, she quietly made her way into the kitchen and served herself a cold glass of water. She looked outside into the deceitfully peaceful looking jungle; Dori was surprised to notice that they had slept in for a change. It was already past noon… than again they all went to sleep later than usual because of the boys idiotic idea of late night training.

"Excuse me. We heard that Luffy and Dori live here." She heard a familiar _sweet_, soft voice ask. Dori's eyes widened, she knew who's voice that was. She bolted out of the house as she heard Luffy throw himself off the second floor.

"Makino!" they shouted at the same time happily as they both ran together into the kind woman's arms.

"Luffy! Dori!" she exclaimed happily as she hugged both of them tightly.

"You two look great." The mayor of Fooshia village said happily as the two kids looked at him joyfully, happy to see two familiar faces, "It's already been six months so we came to see how you guys were doing."

"Hey, mayor!" Luffy greeted chirpily.

Makino laughed nervously before pulling the two of them away from her hug and looking at them in the eyes, "Don't tell Garp-san we were here, it's a secret." She mock whispered, her pointer finger was in front of her lips as if she was saying 'shush'.

"So you two really are living with mountain bandits…" the mayor stated in slight wonder and disdain.

Dadan scowled angrily, "You got a problem with that?"

"Yes! A big one! You're a bandit- don't give me attitude!" the mayor screamed lifting his cane in the air 'threateningly'.

"What?! Are all people from Fooshia Village annoying!?" she asked rhetorically as she lifted her fist in a threatening manner as well. They looked like an old married couple, at least to Dori they did.

"I have some presents for you!" Makino said chirpily clapping her hands, effectively getting Dori's and Luffy's attention off of the arguing pair.

Luffy and Dori looked at each other excitedly and grinned widely at the older woman as she kneeled down to where she had placed a large brown picnic basket on the ground beside her. "I assume Garp-san wouldn't think about these things…. Here! New clothes!" she presented with a smile pulling out a t-shirt with a purple star on it.

"OH! Great!" Luffy cheered.

Dori lowered her head trembling as tears began to stream down her face.

"Oh, Dori-chan. What's wrong?" Makino asked her softly in concern as Luffy looked at his nee-chan confusedly.

**Author's Note: **

Hey, hey, hey~ I'm not dead! How are you guys? It's been almost a complete year! Hopefully it's not going to take this log to update the next chapter! Anyway I had to split this chapter into two since it was immense! I know- I know, I'm splitting chapters again… trust me, I almost cried when I realized I had to do this again. Oh, before I forget:

_Disclaimer: I do not own 'Hey Brother' by Avicii and the lullaby 'Song of the Sea' by whomever wrote the song; you can listen to both if you follow these links (they go in order): ( watch?v=YxIiPLVR6NA) and ( watch?v=J5P2-9YY7qU) _

Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time I update since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…

Anyway, I wanted to know if you guys want me to do a side story portraying Dylan's POV. It would go from his death up until he meets up with his sister again… remember he would be falling into the Naruto Universe. In this fic I'm making the Naruto Universe an island in the New World, I'll also probably make the hidden One Piece hidden somewhere in the Elemental Countries….. Yup! So tell me what you think, I'd be willing to hear suggestions as to what part of the Time line Dylan lands in and what kind of ninja he'd end up being… (though him being a part of Konoha is something I won't change, he could come from another village but he needs to end up at Konoha)….

**This Chapter is Dedicated to:**

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month! Maybe….

**4,425 Words**

**FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

**Love, Mara-Chan ****(o l l o)**


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